In the Zone | Our Investment in FamilyWell

February 29, 2024

By Payal Agrawal Divakaran and Kathryn Taylor Reddy, .406 Ventures

“I had difficulty finding support when I experienced postpartum depression and have cared for countless new moms struggling to access mental health care during one of the most vulnerable periods of their lives. My experience, both as a survivor and as a practicing neonatologist, inspired me to start FamilyWell to provide equitable, affordable, and accessible mental healthcare for new mothers.”

 – Dr. Jessica Gaulton, MD MPH, Founder of FamilyWell

Much has changed in the almost two decades that .406 Ventures has been investing in innovative behavioral health companies. Starting all the way back from our investments in Health Dialog in 2006 and in AbleTo in 2013, we witnessed the enormous value (better outcomes and reduced costs) that came from delivering high quality mental health care to patients who were concurrently experiencing physical health issues. We also learned that technology was not an end in itself; rather, it was a tool that could be used to ‘meet people where they are,’ enabling team-based delivery models and broadening access and adoption. These early experiences have informed how we continue to evaluate opportunities in behavioral health. Specifically, we look for companies that are:

• Tackling a problem that is specific enough to require a differentiated clinical approach, but for a population that is large and expensive enough to support a clear path to $100M+ in revenue.
• Using the right (often interdisciplinary) care team and clinical model to deliver cost-effective care.
• Commanding premium payment for their service, justified by rock-solid ROI – whether by paving a new path with health plans to reimburse their unique offering or by shifting from fee-for-service to fee-for-value over time.
• Finding, engaging, and retaining patients – often changing the narrative around a population or diagnosis such that patients feel connected and start to emerge in large numbers.
• Prioritizing strong outcomes above all else.

We get especially excited when we come across a founder whose company not only checks all these boxes, but also exudes a sense of purpose and determination, often driven by lived experience of the problem they’re solving. When we first met Dr. Jessica Gaulton, founder of FamilyWell, with the introduction coming from not one but two founders in our portfolio, there was immediate and strong alignment.

What is FamilyWell?

FamilyWell integrates behavioral health services into OBGYN and Family Medicine practices, providing new and expectant moms in need with coordinated virtual access to therapists, psychiatrists, and peer coaches.

Dr. Jessica Gaulton founded FamilyWell after her own experience overcoming postpartum depression while working as a neonatologist and finding that the “standard of care” provided far too little support. Her experience was not unique – an estimated 1 in 5 women who give birth are diagnosed with postpartum depression, and many more go undiagnosed and untreated. This can lead to catastrophic outcomes: mental health conditions, including those that lead to suicide and overdose, are now the leading cause (23%) of pregnancy-related deaths in the US. 

.406 and FamilyWell

Our investment in FamilyWell comes after years of investing in and evaluating companies in mental health, women’s health, and the intersection of the two. Based on this work as well as our own personal experiences navigating pregnancy and early motherhood, we saw FamilyWell addressing the criteria we had identified as critical for success: 

• Meets people where they are: Those who are struggling with perinatal depression often do not have the time, energy, or resources to proactively seek care – FamilyWell integrates seamlessly into the settings where patients are already going for care (e.g., the OBGYN office).
• Incorporates an interdisciplinary care team that leads to high quality and cost-effective care: FamilyWell’s care team includes psychiatrists, therapists, and peer coaches, which allows them to treat the full acuity spectrum. FamilyWell hires mission-aligned peer coaches with lived experience of perinatal depression and provides training through a proprietary certification program.
• Employs a business model that leverages well-established reimbursement rails, particularly during this time of heightened pressure on health plans: FamilyWell is built on the well-established Collaborative Care Model, an evidence-based model for integrating behavioral health care into a physician practice that is already widely adopted by payers.
• Creates a “win-win” for all stakeholders: For any solution to be effective and sustainable in the long run, it must solve problems for every stakeholder, including patients, OBGYNs, and payers. In our diligence calls, we consistently heard OBGYNs describe FamilyWell’s solution as a “no-brainer;” it allows them to deliver better care and reduce the burden on their staff at no additional cost.  
  

Looking Forward

As moms ourselves, we love how FamilyWell is thoughtfully designed – by moms and for moms – in a way that will have a lasting impact. FamilyWell has the right team and approach to help address the maternal mental health crisis, with clear opportunities for expansion to support women during other critical times in their lives. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with the team at FamilyWell as they bring their solution to patients across the country.

In the Founder’s Words from Dr. Jessica Gaulton, Founder and CEO

WHAT IS FAMILYWELL:  

FamilyWell is a startup built by moms for moms to support maternal mental health. FamilyWell embeds perinatal mental health services into obstetric clinics so that OBs don’t have to refer patients out to mental health clinicians in the community, who will very often have 6+ month wait times. Our suite of services includes personalized care coordinators, a peer texting hotline, and telehealth visits with certified coaches, licensed therapists, and psychiatrists.

PAIN POINT ADDRESSED:

Obstetric providers have nowhere to refer their pregnant and postpartum patients struggling with mental health concerns. FamilyWell's integrated care delivery model is designed to provide OBs with the tools they need to care for their patient's 'whole health' – physical and mental health. 

FAVORITE QUOTE:

"You can change the world by being yourself." – Yoko Ono

MILESTONE MOMENT:

Launching our first OB clinic partnership in Massachusetts and seeing women get better with coaching and therapy! 

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION:

HIPAA-secure texting app that connects live peer coaches with our clients, on-demand, so that support is accessible anytime you need it.