and switching gears guys to our first guest mantra
health that's a digital mental health clinic that's focused on
young adults and they just announced the $22 million
series a investment and that was led by V.
M. G. Partners.
The company also launching their mantra sponsored care
program that on 52 campuses across the US
And that will ensure more than 500,000 students will
get access to psychiatry and therapy services over telehealth.
So joining us now to discuss the company's growth are Red Dawson
co founder and Ceo of Mantra Health and also Matt Kennedy,
the co founder and Ceo of Mantra health Gentlemen,
such a pleasure to have both of you guys here and I want to start with you.
What are your plans for this? Fresh capital?
Yeah, thank you so much for having us on the show.
So um first of all it's a really exciting time for us,
I think like a lot of series a companies we um at a point where we're truly,
truly trying to, to scale the, the solution across campuses across the country.
As you can imagine, the demand has been
overwhelming with the pandemic and everything that's going on around the country.
We were just speaking about this.
Um, so I think for us,
first and foremost as a company that's really found this product market
fit the goal is to really make sure that we do,
what's necessary to scale our goal is to quadruple
the team size over the next 12 months.
Across all functions, go to market product development
clinical operations. We've
onboarding some outstanding senior people from the team recently.
Um,
and then other focus areas will include some
clinical investments in our virtual provider group,
continuing to expand our provider group across the country.
Um, and also doubling down on insurance partnerships to be able to
continue to support students after they graduate. So
those are some of the
items on the list. Well, congratulations on the funding. That's really big matt.
Let's talk about how you and Ed founded this company and also who is mantra health?
What do you guys really sort of look at here?
Yeah, thanks for having us baker.
It's a really important issue across the country, right?
There's a crisis going on in the college mental health space.
And,
and Ed and I actually both had personal stories and through a family member
and I actually used the college counseling
center in undergrad after a traumatic event.
And it was fortunate, you know, 10 years ago,
I can't even say that at the time that access was relatively easy,
I was able to walk in and get a same day appointment
and continue that every week for as long as I needed.
What's happened in the last decade in this country is that there's
been a major shift in terms of demand continuing to rise.
But supply being constrained on campuses and they've
really done their best to keep up.
But we're in a world where campuses are really
doubling down and focusing on what they do best,
which is deliver education and then start to partner out to
companies like mantra to be part of the solution here.
So Ed and I have,
okay, sorry to cut you off, Ed,
what's sort of been the response here from college students?
We know how difficult of a year in the last couple of years it's been for them.
So what's been their response so far?
Yeah, I mean, the, the response has been phenomenal.
I think if there's one data point I can share today is that, um, you know, 50,
of the students that I work with Mantra stated
that our program helped them stayed enrolled in school.
Um, so whenever you're talking to
campus is about the potential impact of implementing a program um, like mantra and,
and generally speaking investing in more mental health care.
Um, it also comes down to, you know, can you really help these students, um,
not only go through their struggles, but also remaining enrolled in school.
So, um, that's really what we're doing other data points that we can share around
sort of the impact that we're having.
Um, you know,
prior to two mantra coming on campus is a lot of students would receive sort of a
limit of sessions on campus and then would be
sent out to the community for these appointments.
We've sort of come in with a solution that truly truly increases.
In fact, by 100%,
the amount of students that actually make it to
that appointment once they're referred out of campus.
Um so really, really exciting on that front as well,
matt in your opinion,
what are sort of the issues that we're seeing with
the mental health system when it pertains to younger adults?
Is it the lack of access? Is that the financial capabilities?
What are some of the main issues here, in your opinion?
It's really a perfect storm.
So we have students that are coming from all over the
country to a new state that usually causes disruption in care.
There's a lack of access on campuses and oftentimes in rural campuses,
no community access.
So they end up going to a primary care provider or just not foregoing care entirely.
Um and also this financial challenges that a lot of young
adults have because they've never entered the workforce and then either they're
on their parent's insurance plan or that student health insurance plan
is just really not as adequate as it needs to be.
Um and so that's where a place that mantra can really
innovative is giving these people access to your telehealth program.
But as we introduce these new digital extender products,
it doesn't matter where you are, you can get access.
So ed, what's gonna be next for you guys, that mantra health,
what are you guys gonna be doing next year.
Yeah, as I touched on before with the proceeds of the round the goal is really to,
to grow.
Um you know,
I think our mission from Day One has been
um not only to increase access for college students,
but also think about how we increase quality.
So I think what you'll see us doing over the next few years
is try to think about how every single college student that walks on campus
gets a mental wellness pathway that's really tailored to them from
the day to walk on campus uh too long after graduation.
Um So that means, you know,
expanding sort of the clinical offering that
we currently have with with our schools,
but also think about diversifying the payment mix, um that we currently support.
Alright Ed Garsten, co founder and Ceo of Mantra Health and matt Kennedy,
one of the other co founders, and Ceo of Mantra health Gentlemen.
Such a pleasure to have both of you guys here with us on chattering news.