Tag Archives: Mental Health & Happiness

Neolth Teams Up with NBA Star Kenny Thomas to Bring Mental Health Tools to Kids



According to some estimates, out of the HHS, nearly 50% of kids have experienced some kind of mental health challenge. And not just anxiety about an upcoming test or depression over a breakup, but persistent feelings that interfere with daily activities.

Health innovation companies have been on the case for years, including many from the StartUp Health community. They’re tackling the science – like what’s the best way to treat mental health challenges in teens – and they’re also tackling engagement. You can have the best tools in the world after all, but if a young person doesn’t want to get help, it’ll never go anywhere.

Enter Katherine Grill, PhD, CEO & Co-founder of Neolth, one of our guests on this podcast episode. She’s taken her doctorate in behavioral neuroscience and her experience as a clinician, combined with hundreds of interviews with young people, in order to build a platform that meets kids where they’re at – offering self-guided mental health support in a variety of forms and flavors.

Joining the podcast with us is former pro basketball player, Kenny Thomas. After spending 11 seasons in the NBA, Thomas became an entrepreneur and community advocate, with a focus on youth experiencing financial hardship via his own foundation. And now he’s throwing his influence behind Neolth in order to help young people, particularly those involved in sports, gain access to mental health services.

On this StartUp Health NOW episode, we’ll cover the ins and outs of the Neolth platform as well as some of Dr. Grill’s strategy behind working with a brand ambassador, which is somewhat unique in the world of early-stage health startups.

Let’s get into it.


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Unpluq Helps People Get Off Their Screens and Back into Life



Our StartUp Health NOW guest this week is Caroline Cadwell, the CEO and Co-founder of Unpluq – a Dutch company that joined StartUp Health in 2021.

Unpluq is on a mission to empower people to change their digital habits and improve their wellbeing.

Cadwell and her team have designed a consumer-facing device and platform that helps people regain control and intentionality with their time. They’re pushing back against a world where attention span is eroding, which has contributed to lower feelings of wellbeing and a decline in executive function.

Listen in to hear how they’ve tackled the problem.


FundersBecome a Health Moonshot Champion
Want more content like this? You can subscribe to the podcast as well as other health innovation updates at startuphealth.com/content.
Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.

Looking to break down health barriers? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our Health Equity Moonshot.
Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.


Affectifi’s ThinkHuman Platform Uses Streaming TV to Make Emotional Regulation Easy, Fun, and Accessible



Emotional regulation. It’s a fancy term for something very simple, and something we often take for granted. Emotional regulation is a person’s ability to effectively manage and respond to an emotional experience. We do this work unconsciously all day long, deciding how to respond when we’re cut off in traffic or when we see something we disagree with on social media.

How we respond to emotional situations can have massive ramifications for our lives, yet we don’t typically spend much time thinking about it or trying to improve.

Our guests this week, Melissa Cesarano and Ilya Lyashevsky, got their PhDs at Columbia University studying the science of this field, called social-emotional learning. Now, they’ve poured their academic work into a startup called Affectifi, which StartUp Health backed last year.

In this conversation, we’ll hear from Mel and Ilya about their unique methodology for teaching emotional regulation to young people. It’s a platform called ThinkHuman and it actually piggy-backs training modules on top of popular content on streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+.

Listen in to hear how it works.


Learn more and connect with the team at Affectifi.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots healthmoonshots.com
Want more content like this? You can subscribe to the podcast as well as other health innovation updates at startuphealth.com/content.
Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.

Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.

These Three Founders Are Upgrading the Mental Health Toolkit



This episode is part of our monthly Health Moonshot series. Last month it was all about brain health, today, we’re talking about founders and companies rethinking mental health and happiness. Areva Martin, CEO & Co-founder of Butterflly Health, has built a behavioral health platform that provides users with peer-to-peer support, therapist matching, access to coaching, and more. Kavi Misri, CEO & Founder of Rose Health, provides evidence-based mental health care for patients and providers on a platform built with tools and technology designed with the patient in mind. Lastly, Richard Hanbury, CEO & Founder of Sana Health, has developed a non-addictive simple mask and headphones that uses audiovisual stimulation to increase the balance between the left and right sides of the brain leading to greater relaxation.

In this episode, co-hosted by Logan Plaster and India Edwards, the three entrepreneurs break down their innovative solutions and how they’re advancing mental healthcare.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots healthmoonshots.com
Want more content like this? You can subscribe to the podcast as well as other health innovation updates at startuphealth.com/content.
Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.


#200: Dr. Thomas Tsang, CEO & Co-founder, Valera Health



Thomas Tsang, MD, CEO & Co-founder, Valera Health, chats with President of StartUp Health, Unity Stoakes
WATCH MORE NOW EPISODES: https://www.startuphealth.com/startup-health-now

Location: NYU Langone Health Tech Symposium in New York, NY


#58: Building Brands by Promoting Wellness: JD Cassidy, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness



JD Cassidy, Managing Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, discusses the company’s unique perspective to branding, with an emphasis on the role that emotion plays in wellness and decision making.
GUEST: JD Cassidy, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness
HOST: Unity Stoakes
LOCATION: StartUp Health Village, New York, NY

IN THIS EPISODE:
The Mission of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness
Companies Focusing on Wellness
Entrepreneurial Advice: Product Building & Brand Building Go Hand in Hand
The SSW Women, Wellness and Tech Study