Launch Health check-up: TheraWe Connect bridging gap between parents, pediatric therapy
November 13, 2019 | Austin Barnes and Tommy Felts
Editor’s note: The following is part of a series of stories on the six cohort companies of the Launch Health Accelerator, powered by Nueterra Capital and sponsored by LaunchKC. Click here to read all the stories published in this series.
Opportunity unlocked, it’s full steam ahead for TheraWe Connect as the startup prepares to check out of the Launch Health Accelerator and into the next phase of its startup journey.
Kaitlin Doyle, TheraWe Connect
“It’s really given us access to more opportunities in the Kansas City-area and outside of the Kansas City-area — through mentorship, but also through the other cohort members as well,” said Kaitlin Doyle, CEO.
One of six companies in the Nueterra Capital-backed program, sponsored by Launch KC, TheraWe Connect — a HIPAA-compliant mobile video platform that bridges the gap between therapy centers and the home — is doubling down on efforts to help parents navigate the world of pediatric therapy, Doyle said of what’s to come when the startup exits the program on Nov. 20.
“I am a pediatric occupational therapist by trade. I have spent my career working with families who have children with special needs in the birth to six-years-old range,” she added, detailing her experience and what attracted her to working with the startup.
Click here to register for Launch Health Demo Day, set for Nov. 20.
Jeremy Tasset, Nueterra Capital, and Kirby Montgomery, TheraWe Connect
Community collaboration, Doyle was connected to Kirby Montgomery, TheraWe Connect founder, by Lesa Mitchell, managing director of Techstars Kansas City.
“I connected with Kirby and immediately I knew that he had a solution to the problem that I was experiencing, working in homes and providing early intervention services,” she said.
The rest is history, Doyle added, noting the decision to join TheraWe Connect as CEO was a no-brainer.
The startup executive is hopeful Kansas City and surrounding healthtech markets see similar value in the company, she said.
“I think in practice as an occupational therapist, it is really challenging to communicate with all of the caregivers and provide quality services one time a week in a 30-minute session,” Doyle said. “Connecting therapists with the family is what we need in our industry and that’s where we are today.”
As TheraWe Connect moves forward, getting the platform in the hands of more users is the startup’s top priority — and more realistic than ever, thanks in large part to programming offered by Launch Health, Doyle noted.
“We were pretty open to the accelerator,” she said. “We really just wanted to dive in and learn more [and we have].”
This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
Featured Business
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Ranking: KC defies gender pay gap, again earns No. 2 for Women in Tech
Second only to Washington, D.C., in a new national ranking, Kansas City boasts a noteworthy statistic: Women in tech jobs are paid, on average, 2 percent more than their male counterparts. It’s the fourth consecutive year Kansas City has earned a No. 2 on the list of the Best Cities for Women in Tech. But…
Operation Breakthrough expansion helps give every child a chance, Mayor Sly James says
It’s the beginning of a new chapter for Operation Breakthrough, said Kansas City Mayor Sly James. The mayor joined a packed crowd of supporters on an icy Thursday morning to share the Kansas City-based organization’s formal announcement of its $17 million capital campaign and expansion project. The effort — dubbed “Big Dreams, Bright Futures” —…
Blooom CEO switch better allows Costello to ‘evangelize’ high-profile KC startup
Following a “tremendous” year of growth, Blooom officials said Wednesday that upward trajectory requires a new leader at the helm. Co-founder Chris Costello, who has served for the past five years as chief executive officer, has stepped down and moved into a new role as chairman of Blooom’s board of directors. Matt Burgener, the company’s…
Starty Pants podcast host Sharice Davids making bid to unseat Rep. Kevin Yoder
Americans have an intergenerational responsibility to leave society and the country better than they found it, Sharice Davids said. The startup founders she interviews for her Starty Pants podcast understand that duty, she said. “When I think about entrepreneurship, I think of the risk taking and forward thinking of people who are trying to address…