Cortica Snags $80M to Make Autism Care for Children Less Fragmented

Cortica, a provider for children with autism and neurodivergent conditions, last week secured $80 million in funding co-led by Morgan Health and Nexus NeuroTech Ventures.

San Diego, California-based Cortica offers applied behavior analysis, diagnostic testing, speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, counseling and other services. It cares for patients in its centers, virtually and at schools and in homes. It has 24 physical locations across eight states and works with most major health plans, including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare.

The $80 million fundraise also included participation from the Autism Impact Fund, which is an existing investor of Cortica. In total, the company has raised more than $250 million.

The financing will help the company scale its presence across the country, invest in its technology, and further shift from fee-for-service contracts to value-based contracts with health plans, said Neil Hattangadi, co-founder and CEO of Cortica.

This is Morgan Health’s seventh portfolio company. Morgan Health is a JPMorganChase business unit focused on employer-sponsored insurance. Others in its portfolio include fertility company Kindbody, at-home testing company LetsGetChecked and primary care company Vera Whole Health. Morgan Health chose to invest in Cortica because of the challenges that families often face in getting care for their children with autism or neurodivergent conditions. The company has also been offering Cortica to its employees in fee-for-service arrangements but will be evolving to value-based arrangements in the future.

“Families with autistic or neurodivergent children are often burdened by a highly fragmented, complex health care system. Delays in diagnosis, uncoordinated care across clinician teams and limited data to inform clinical measures leave people unsure where to turn for care or access the appropriate intervention for their child,” said Dan Mendelson, CEO of Morgan Health, in a statement. “Our investment in Cortica is aimed at reducing this burden — ensuring that more families have access to a singular, primary point of care so their children can get better faster.”

Currently, one in 36 children is diagnosed with autism in the U.S. And traditional care for children with autism is often confusing, Hattangadi said. Parents often face long waitlists for diagnoses and then must navigate multiple referrals to specialists for various issues, such as sleep disorders, seizures and therapy. They also struggle with coordinating treatment and securing accommodations within the school system.

“Often in a two working parent household, one of the two parents leaves their job and full-time care coordinates or quarterbacks the care of their child,” he said. “In the old days, it was done with a big binder that they would have, that they just take from one provider to another. … The fragmentation is the number one issue that we set out to solve at Cortica, and our solution there is really bringing all these providers together as a common team, and having them work together in the best interest of the child and the family.”

There are others providing similar care to Cortica, such as academic medical centers like the Lurie Center for Autism and the Thompson Autism Center. However, these programs are limited in scale, Hattangadi said.

Looking ahead, Cortica has several goals as a company: to make autism care less fragmented, support the transition to value-based care and help society better understand neurodivergence.

“Our goal in autism care, in contrast to things like oncology or cardiology, is not to cure a disease,” Hattangadi stated. “It’s really about allowing the underlying personality of each child to shine and allow them to become contributing members of society that live joyful, productive lives. Our goals are really to give them those skills to function at their best, but not to fundamentally change who they are.”

Photo: sorbetto, Getty Images