Pediatric digital mental health company Little Otter scored $22 million in a Series A funding round. CRV led the round, with participation from Torch Capital, Vast Ventures, Hinsdale, Boxgroup, _Able, Carrie Penner Walton, G9, Springbank Collective and angel investors. 

The startup now boasts of $26.75 million in funding. 

WHAT IT DOES

The San Francisco-based startup was founded in May 2020 and launched the next year. Its virtual mental health services are geared toward children ages 0 to 14. Therapists are able to incorporate a child’s family into their remote therapy sessions. 

Parents and guardians are able to go online and fill out an assessment form about their child. Users will then get a personalized report and be matched with a care leader. Next, families can talk to a clinician and develop a personalized care plan. The service includes parenting specialists, early childhood trained therapists, couples therapists and pediatric psychiatrists, according to a release. 

The service can treat children living with anxiety, tantrums, sleep issues, aggression, attention difficulties and sadness. 

Right now the service is open to residents of California, Colorado, Florida and North Carolina. According to the company, the service will be coming to Texas residents soon. 

WHAT IT’S FOR 

The company plans to use the new funds to grow its reach. In fact, the company plans to scale its services nationally by 2023. 

“We created Little Otter to bring mental health and wellness to every family,” Rebecca Egger, CEO and cofounder of Little Otter, said in a statement.

“Simply training more providers cannot address the children’s mental health crisis, and that’s why we have built a one-of-a-kind model and team with expertise from child mental health and the best minds in product, engineering and machine learning to create a platform and build a brand that grows with families over time.”

MARKET SNAPSHOT 

Mental health conditions are common in children and teens. According to the CDC, some 7.1% of children between the ages of 3 and 17 are diagnosed with anxiety, and 3.2% are diagnosed with depression.

Little Otter isn’t alone in the digital pediatric behavioral-health space.

Brightline, a virtual mental health company for children, scored $72 million in Series B funding in June, which brought its total funding raise to nearly $100 million. In October, the company announced it would expand its scope to include services for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. 

Meanwhile, pediatric telehealth provider DotCom Therapy announced a partnership with in-school telehealth provider Goodside Health in September.