Austin, Texas-based Expressable announced Wednesday that it has raised $15 million to expand access to the company’s virtual speech therapy offering and grow its healthcare partnerships nationwide.
The Series A financing round was led by F-Prime Capital, with existing investors Lerer Hippeau, NextView Ventures and Amplifyher Ventures also participating. The money will be used to improve Expressable’s technology and data platform, hire speech-language pathologists and partner with more providers and health plans.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Expressables’s technology-enabled care model combines one-on-one teletherapy with personalized learning modules and home exercises, so families, health providers and payers can track progress.
“This funding will enable Expressable to accelerate our investment in contracting with health plans nationwide to improve the accessibility of our speech therapy care model and reach more families,” said Nicholas Barabara, co-founder and CEO at Expressable, in an email provided by a spokesperson.
Expressable’s technology is not limited in that it just facilitates virtual speech therapy sessions. There is an asynchronous element in helping people as well – an educational platform known as the Expressable Academy. This provides a comprehensive library of home programs that complement and reinforce the skills being taught by speech therapists, explained Leanne Sherred, president and chief clinical officer at Expressable.
Families are facing additional challenges due to the pandemic that have increased the need for virtual care and speech therapy, according to Expressable.
“Healthy social interactions are essential for language development,” Sherred said. “With schools and daycares closed due to COVID-19, many children experienced decreased opportunities for meaningful social interactions, potentially affecting conversational abilities, pragmatics, turn-taking and other essential skills.”
Other companies offer online speech therapy, like eLuma and Global Teletherapy. But Expressable positions itself as being able to accommodate virtually all families through teletherapy in reaching kids and caregivers in their homes, including those facing significant access challenges.
“Access barriers leave millions of children untreated every year, and persistent quality gaps leave lots of progress on the table,” Sherred said.
She noted that the company provides virtual speech therapy services to families living in rural or remote areas with limited provider access, as well as families who don’t have insurance coverage, and others that struggle to afford high cost of private therapy.
And the company’s ability to reach families in need during the pandemic, when many more are home, helped it to attract investment to grow its business.
“Expressable’s innovative, evidence-based, family-centered platform combines the power of virtual therapy with the personalized support and education that all children and adults in need of speech therapy should have access to, especially during a time when many have been learning and working remotely,” said Brett Cook, Principal at F-Prime Capital, in a statement.
Photo: TAW4, Getty Images
