Motivo Health, an Atlanta-based marketplace that connects mental health therapists with clinical supervisors online, has raised $14M in Series A funding led by Cox Enterprises with participation from SteelSky Ventures and Great Oaks Venture Capital.
How will the funding be used?
The company will use the funds to grow its sales and engineering team, acquire additional contracts with behavioral health organisations, digital health companies, and health plans, and sign channel partnerships with graduate universities.
The Georgia-based company said it would also expand to provide continuing education for therapist re-certification and build a product offering for clinical staff augmentation and direct service delivery.
The new round brings Motivo’s total funding to $16.3M.
The issue
According to Motivo Health, one key reason for the shortage of mental health providers is the long, arduous process of obtaining licensure.
After graduate school, professors in the mental health sector must complete approximately two years of a face-to-face consultation with a licensed therapist.
According to respective licensure bodies, 64% of those who obtain a master’s degree in counseling never become licensed due to the time (two to four years of clinical supervision) and expense associated with completing licensure.
Motivo Health’s solution
Here’s where Motivo Health plays a key role. Founded by Rachel McCrickard in 2018, the marketplace enables virtual supervision and coordination of licensure requirements at a state level to reduce the cost and time to achieve and maintain licensure for therapists.
“At a time when our society needs quality mental health providers, we must leverage technology to remove unnecessary barriers in the licensure process,” says McCrickard. “We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Cox Enterprises, SteelSky Ventures, and others. Our investors align with our mission and will help accelerate our growth while keeping a keen eye on the overall quality and impact we have on the mental health profession.”
The company was established with a mission to provide accessible, affordable clinical supervision to aspiring therapists. Motivo Health is helping solve the nation’s behavioral health crisis by supporting therapists through licensure.
To date, Motivo has assisted over 2,500 therapists in obtaining licensure. Currently, the company employs 23 full-time employees with plans to immediately hire sales leaders and software engineers with the new funding.
“There is tremendous opportunity to impact the mental health industry in a meaningful way,” said Tim Howe, associate vice president of healthcare strategy and investments, Cox Enterprises. “Behavioral health is an important component of our health care strategy. Motivo is focused on helping therapists, social workers, behavior analysts, and psychologists take that final step in their career. As a licensed therapist, Rachel deeply understands the pain points that exist for therapists, and her solution addresses their most critical needs, focusing on access and affordability.”
“I saw Motivo’s potential early on and am proud to have been an early investor. Fast-forward to 2022, and therapists are more needed than ever due to the mental health crisis, however, labor is in short supply. Motivo has become critical in providing a strong and capable pipeline of therapists by helping with licensing, upskilling, and staffing. It is effectively strengthening access to care for those who need it most. Motivo’s past success and positive trajectory under Rachel McCrickard’s leadership gives me the utmost confidence in the company’s future and inspired us to invest in the company’s Series A round,” commented Maria Toler Velissaris, Founding Partner of SteelSky Ventures.