Tech
A dyslexia diagnosis led Diana Heldfond to create a startup focused on helping children with learning disabilities. Here’s how she did it and raised $20 million from Tiger Global.
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- Parallel Learning just raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Tiger Global.
- The startup provides a one-stop shop for children with learning differences and their families.
- Here’s an exclusive look at the 10-slide pitch deck Parallel used to woo investors.
One in five children in the US has a learning or thinking difference, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities. It’s something Diana Heldfond knows firsthand.
After being diagnosed with dyslexia at age 7 and receiving an ADHD diagnosis in middle school, Heldfond said she was lucky to have parents who knew to flag her symptoms to healthcare providers and ensure she had access to good care.
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“I had a unique experience because I had access to resources and was one of the lucky ones in terms of catching my conditions early,” she told Insider in an interview.
Heldfond added that children whose learning differences go untreated could fall years behind in their academics and develop mental-health issues later in life — and many who do seek out resources are greeted by a frustrating experience filled with long wait times and fragmented care.
That’s how her startup, Parallel Learning, was born.
The startup, founded in 2020, just closed a $20 million Series A fundraising round led by Tiger Global, Insider has learned. Obvious Ventures and the billionaire Barry Sternlicht’s special-purpose acquisition company, Jaws, also participated in the round.
Parallel is a one-stop shop for children with learning disabilities and their families where kids can receive diagnoses, care, and support. The virtual platform offers families and school districts a suite of developmental services to address learning and thinking differences like dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, depression, and anxiety.
The startup’s latest round of funding came just five months after Parallel’s launch in December with $2.8 million in seed funding from Vine Ventures, which also participated in the Series A.
The children’s mental-health ecosystem is fragmented, with children constantly being shuffled between providers and receiving drastically different care depending on which professional — such as psychiatrists, therapists, pediatricians, and teachers — they visit first, Heldfond said.
“One of the largest pain points when talking to families is the feeling of not knowing what to do next when they receive an initial diagnosis and finding care providers who can address concerns,” she said.
Parallel, on the other hand, assigns every family on its platform to a care coordinator who streamlines the diagnostics, coordinates care with health professionals, and keeps classroom and special-education teachers in the loop. Parallel provides psychological evaluations, tutoring, behavioral therapy, and speech-language therapy. The startup has clinically licensed professionals in five states, with the goal to add 12 in the net six months and be national early-to-mid next year.
Other edtech and healthtech startups like Bookbot, Spokle, and Learnfully help children with learning disabilities become better readers, provide speech therapy, and connect families to caregiver networks, respectively.
Here’s an exclusive look at Parallel’s 10-page pitch deck.
Parallel Learning
Parallel Learning
Parallel Learning
Parallel Learning
Parallel Learning
Parallel Learning
Parallel Learning
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Parallel Learning
Parallel Learning