Healthcare
A dad used this presentation to raise millions to give kids with ADHD and autism the same kind of therapy that helped his son
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- Kinspire, a startup offering occupational therapy for kids, just got $3.6 million in seed funding.
- The company wants to involve parents and caregivers in their child’s therapy to improve outcomes.
- CEO Robert Seigel said Kinspire is focused on growing and getting insurers to pay for its care.
Robert Seigel’s oldest son started receiving occupational therapy at 4 years old to treat weakness in his abdomen that made it difficult for him to sit still.
Occupational therapy, which can be used to treat both physical and mental conditions, focuses on improving a person’s ability to perform everyday activities, from eating to putting on shoes. To get more comfortable sitting up straight, Seigel’s son learned core-strengthening exercises in one-on-one sessions with an occupational therapist.
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But in between the sessions, Seigel said he wasn’t sure how to help his son progress.
“As we were going through this, we were getting increasingly frustrated that in between sessions, we had no support,” he said. “We’d message the therapist, but she doesn’t have time. It’s not her fault, and she doesn’t get paid for that.”
He turned to his sister, Lily Baiser, a pediatric occupational therapist, to ask questions and track his son’s progress in between in-person therapy sessions. His son’s strength improved much faster when Seigel worked with him in between regular appointments, and Seigel and Baiser wanted to bring that experience to other families.
So in 2020, Seigel and Baiser launched Kinspire, a startup that provides virtual occupational therapy, around-the-clock messaging with therapists, and other tools to help parents and caregivers support kids with disabilities and developmental delays at home.
On Friday, Kinspire announced a $3.6 million seed round co-led by Corazon Capital and Looking Glass Capital, with participation from Difference Partners, Great Oaks VC, Service Provider Capital, The Fund, Copper Wire Ventures, and angel investor Bradley Tusk.
Seigel told Insider the new funding will help the startup grow sustainably. As the market tightens and digital-health funding slows, Seigel said investors directed Kinspire to hunker down and focus on its core product rather than expanding quickly.
“The big piece of advice from investors and advisors is to extend runway,” Seigel said, adding that the raise gave Kinspire two years’ worth of cash. “We’re taking that, for sure. With our small team, we’re trying to tackle it all and do as much as we can.”
Kinspire shared with Insider the pitch deck it used to raise $3.6 million in seed funding. The startup removed private financial details from the presentation.
See the 14-slide presentation Kinspire used to land $3.6 million from Corazon Capital and Looking Glass Capital.
Kinspire wants to reimagine occupational therapy for kids by involving parents or caregivers more closely in their treatment.
While about one in six children in the US have developmental disabilities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, getting adequate care for those disabilities can be difficult, Seigel said.
This slide includes citations from BMC Pediatrics, the CDC, JAMA Network, and a paper linked on the National Institutes of Health’s PubMed website.
Seigel and his sister, Lily Baiser, cofounded Kinspire to help families fill gaps in care and help kids make faster progress in occupational therapy with at-home support.
The traditional occupational therapy model can be frustrating for both parents and therapists, Seigel said. Parents may feel lost about how to help their child in between therapy sessions, and therapists aren’t paid for helping the family between visits, he said.
Kinspire charges members $199 each month, which includes one live virtual session per month with a pediatric occupational therapist, unlimited messaging with the provider, and access to a library of activities and trainings for parents.
In addition to the single, live occupational therapy session included in a Kinspire membership, Seigel said families can schedule additional visits for $59 each.
While Kinspire’s services are not covered by any health insurers, Seigel said parents and caregivers can submit the individual occupational therapy sessions to insurers to seek reimbursement.
Parents can send the occupational therapist videos of their child’s progress to get guidance or help modifying their child’s treatment plan in between therapy sessions.
Kinspire employs nine occupational therapists, Seigel said. The therapists are paid hourly for the time they spend in therapy sessions with kids and messaging with parents.
Seigel said hundreds of families have used Kinspire’s platform, but the company has been careful not to take on patients too quickly as the business grows. “As a dad of a child going through this, I don’t want to experiment on families,” he said.
ADHD is the most common condition Kinspire treats, Seigel said. The startup also sees many children with autism and other sensory issues.
The startup has more than 700 occupational therapists on a waitlist to work for Kinspire, Siegel said. “If there’s one thing that’s easy for us, it’s grabbing the OTs,” Seigel said.
Kinspire’s services are currently available in Florida, California, Colorado, and Texas.
Seigel said one of Kinspire’s main goals for 2023 is getting its services paid for by private and public health insurers.
While Kinspire doesn’t plan to expand to more states this year, Seigel said the team will continue improving its platform and building its patient base in its existing states.