Autism-care startup Cortica raises $75 million

Cortica, a hybrid provider that develops care programs for people with autism, announced it has closed a $75 million funding round led by Deerfield Management and Optum Ventures.

Cortica’s latest round attracted new investors, including Echo Health Ventures and RA Capital Management, as well as existing investors .406 Ventures, Longitude Capital, Ajax Health, Aperture Venture Partners, the Autism Impact Fund and Questa Capital.

The Company also announced the acquisition of Springtide Child Development, a multi-site, interdisciplinary practice with telemedicine capabilities serving children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental delays and disabilities. Springfield’s investors placed all of their equity in Cortica.

Cortica also acquired the Melmed Center, an Arizona-based research group and pediatric development hospital that owns 23 autism centers across the United States

WHAT IT DOES

Cortica provides virtual and in-person medical diagnostic services, as well as behavioral and developmental therapies for children with ADHD, autism, developmental delays and a range of other neurodiverse disorders.

“We are very impressed with Springtide’s product and clinical quality. Our combination brings together two leaders in the care of whole child autism and allows us to extend Cortica’s medical model to Springtide’s centers,” said Dr. Neil Hattangadi, Cortica co-founder and CEO, in a statement.

“We have also long admired the research and clinical capabilities of the Melmed Center and are very excited to welcome them to Cortica as our platform for growth in Arizona. We are honored to have Deerfield, Optum, RA and Echo join our consortium of investors, which now includes five of the country’s leading healthcare plans.”

MARKET SNAPSHOT

2021 met Cortica $60 million in grants.

In September, Cortica announced a partnership with a health and wellness organization Point32Health, the parent company of Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

Another company that provides care for people with autism is SpectrumAi provides tools to analyze quality and outcome data for Applied Behavior Analysis, a therapy to improve communication, social and learning skills for people with conditions such as autism.