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Coral Care, which connects parents to in-network childhood development specialists, raised a $5.2 million seed led by AlleyCorp, CEO Jen Wirt tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: Not enough new doctors are going into pediatrics, and demand for child development specialist treatment is rising.

Reach Capital, Grey Matter, Purpose Built Ventures, Mother Ventures, Charge Capital and Hustle are also investors.

How it works: The company connects parents with speech language pathologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists who conduct sessions in the home.

The company, which employs these providers directly, also offers providers claims, payment, and liability management.

Coral Care providers work with children with mild to severe conditions. About 27% of the patients it works with have autism or are considered medically complex.

It's in-network with five Massachusetts payers.

What's next: Coral Care will use funds to expand outside of Massachusetts into Rhode Island and New Hampshire, as well as Texas.

"I want to demonstrate that the magic that happened in Massachusetts is replicable across geographies," says AlleyCorp general partner Tanya Beja.

Additionally, "we'd like to explore also whether the Medicaid population can be served through Coral Care," Beja says.

Between the lines: Medicaid reimbursement rates are much lower than commercial insurer reimbursement, meaning Coral Care's delivery model would likely need to be tweaked for that patient population, Beja says.

"My hypotheses, and this is just a hypothesis, is that group therapy in school settings might be a good thing to test, as opposed to a one-on-one therapy in a home environment," she adds.

What we're watching: Wirt says the company will "likely be looking to raise some time in the  ... not too distant future."

Coral Care is seeing increased demand, too, from parents seeking mental health care and executive functioning services for their children, she says.

Exclusive: Coral Care raises $5.2M to expand child development specialists services

Coral Care connects specialists to families needing support.

Illustration of a paper cut family, with the child in the middle made of a dollar bill. 

Health tech deals

Coral Care, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="which connects parents" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/health-tech-deals/2024/01/23/coral-care-raises-1m-preseed-child-development-specialists-autism" data-vars-content-id="1a67a8c5-24df-469e-ac9e-00b7a7e4b26b" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Coral Care raises $5.2M to expand child development specialists services" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/health-tech-deals/2024/01/23/coral-care-raises-1m-preseed-child-development-specialists-autism" target="_self">which connects parents</a> to in-network childhood development specialists, raised a $5.2 million seed led by AlleyCorp, CEO Jen Wirt tells Axios exclusively.Why it matters: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Not enough" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2024/07/02/new-doctors-shy-away-from-pediatrics" data-vars-content-id="1a67a8c5-24df-469e-ac9e-00b7a7e4b26b" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Coral Care raises $5.2M to expand child development specialists services" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2024/07/02/new-doctors-shy-away-from-pediatrics" target="_self">Not enough</a> new<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text=" doctors" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2024/03/15/emergency-medicine-medical-resident-specialty" data-vars-content-id="1a67a8c5-24df-469e-ac9e-00b7a7e4b26b" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Coral Care raises $5.2M to expand child development specialists services" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2024/03/15/emergency-medicine-medical-resident-specialty" target="_self"> doctors</a> are going into <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="pediatrics" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2020/06/20/coronavirus-pediatricians-doctors-offices" data-vars-content-id="1a67a8c5-24df-469e-ac9e-00b7a7e4b26b" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Coral Care raises $5.2M to expand child development specialists services" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2020/06/20/coronavirus-pediatricians-doctors-offices" target="_self">pediatrics</a>, and demand for child development specialist treatment <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="is rising" data-vars-click-url="https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2024/02/07/early-is-everything-the-crisis-of-delayed-care-in-pediatric-developmental-health-and-autism/" data-vars-content-id="1a67a8c5-24df-469e-ac9e-00b7a7e4b26b" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Coral Care raises $5.2M to expand child development specialists services" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2024/02/07/early-is-everything-the-crisis-of-delayed-care-in-pediatric-developmental-health-and-autism/" target="_blank">is rising</a>.

Exclusive: Coral Care raises $5.2M to expand child development specialists services

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