Our Investments in Shuni and Prairie to Advance Tele-Behavioral Health
Startups on the Forefront of the Evolution of Tele-Behavioral Health
One of the biggest “new normals” to come out of the COVID pandemic is of course telemedicine. After months cooped up indoors, unable to go to ordinary doctor visits, we all now wonder why we ever did things the old way. Taking two hours off of work! Parking! Forms! More forms! Waiting and waiting, then waiting some more for the doctor! Telemedicine has taken over. And for many things, it’s fundamentally better, easier, lower cost and here to stay. There will always be reasons we will see the need to see a clinician in person, but a large percentage of healthcare is online for good.
Perhaps no category is better served by telemedicine than behavioral health. It’s something we do on a regular basis; it takes time away from work; it’s highly stigmatized and prohibitively expensive. The first movers in behavioral telemedicine have done well, and the category is maturing. Companies like Ginger, Talkspace, Lyra, and AbleTo have shown the value and the promise. But these early leaders have all been relatively general, focused on the most common issues like cognitive behavioral therapy for depression and anxiety.
The Next Wave in Tele-Behavioral Health
As I described in an earlier post, We Are All Going Crazy, we see the next wave of tele-behavioral health companies being focused on high value specialty areas that are harder to crack — like addiction, insomnia, bipolar disorder, teen suicide or precision medication. These and other specialty categories represent the new frontier of tele-behavioral health, areas where a generic approach practiced by the early innovators isn’t enough, areas where specialized practitioners, innovative approaches and the power of science and technology are needed.
Our thesis-driven investing work in this area has begun to bear initial fruit with our new investments in Shuni and Prairie Health; two startup companies focused on emerging tele-behavioral health specialties. Both are pre-seed stage companies run by mission driven founders — Shuni is focused on sleep therapy, and Prairie is focused on precision medication, initially for people with depression.
Shuni — Eliminating Insomnia
Shuni’s mission is to eliminate insomnia. It’s guided by MIT grad and sleep industry veteran Jingyun Fan and director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Human Sleep Science, Matt Walker, who literally wrote the book on sleep. His book, Why We Sleep, Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, is a New York Times bestseller that has been translated into 34 languages. Bill Gates reviews the book here. Jingyun and Matt worked together in previous professional roles at a sleep-related startup and have been collaborating ever since. These two founders are unparalleled in their qualifications to tackle the exciting and profoundly meaningful category of sleep.
Sleep is the wellspring of much of our health, enabling daily renewal, processing and storage of memories, and it’s an essential element of our ability to perform and live happy, healthy lives. The National Sleep Foundation finds that 30% of Americans suffer from insomnia, and 10% are impaired by insomnia in their daily activities. Meanwhile, the WHO points to a “global epidemic of sleeplessness,” affecting nearly two-thirds of all people globally. Insufficient sleep can have a crippling effect on people’s lives, leading to cardiovascular disease and premature mortality.
Addressing this problem, and even solving it entirely as Shuni is attempting, has the potential to bring great benefit to millions of people. So we are pleased to work with Jingyun and Matt to address this important category and help bring a better night’s sleep to anyone needing help.
Prairie Health — Precision Medication for Depression
Prairie Health’s mission is to drive better outcomes in mental healthcare using data. Depression has become the leading cause of disability in the world, affecting 264 million people each year. More than the flu, malaria, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, you name it.
Prairie’s Stanford-based team is led by problem-insider Maurice Chiang and his co-founders Aaron Kappe, Jin Woo Yu, and Benson Kung. They’ve each seen the challenges of proper medication for mental health in their own lives. It’s this personal and passionate connection to the problem that we think gives them the ability to outperform their competitors.
We looked at dozens of behavioral health companies before landing on Prairie. In addition to the team, what excited us most is their sophisticated scientific approach to medication management. While medication is not always the right answer, in many situations, such as severe depression, it’s essential. Today’s methodology for prescribing medication is antiquated. Psychiatrists, MDs who specialize in mental health, begin by surveying their patient’s needs, and if appropriate, work with them to find a medication. Unfortunately, this usually is a trial-and-error process. Anyone who has depression or anxiety can tell you that it can take months, even years, to find something that works. And still, there’s no telling that they have found the best drug for their needs.
Prairie’s goal is to make this process as easy as possible for patients by eliminating this trial-and-error process while providing round-the-clock support from Prairie’s Care Partners, who are mental health professionals. By studying multiple databases with phenotypic and genetic information, Prairie enables their psychiatrists to use data to identify medications and dosages for each patient. And because they offer innovative support for their patients, they can tap into a variety of resources, resulting in a better mental health journey. For behavioral health sufferers, this can be lifesaving both figuratively and literally.
Mission Driven Teams Pushing The Boundaries of Behavioral Health
We are thrilled to be working with two mission driven health teams with such rare credentials and deep passion for their work as they push the boundaries of behavioral health and telemedicine. We’re looking forward to learning with them and helping them grow to fulfill their potential and help the people they care about so deeply.
