BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alabama Futures Fund (“AFF” or the “Fund”) recently placed an investment in Kaya Care, Inc. (“Kaya”). Currently based in San Francisco, CA, Kaya connects employees together into clinically-led groups based on shared life experiences to help build inclusive and supportive mental health workplaces.
Kaya partners with employers who want to provide cohort-based mental health solutions to their underlying employees. Research shows that group or cohort-based solutions can offer benefits that individual therapy cannot. Groups focus on themes like relationships, moods, diversity and inclusion, parenting, current political and social issues, wellness and meditation, workplace skills, trauma and healing, and emotional intelligence. Each group session is performed virtually and facilitated by a licensed clinician. Unlike other self-guided solutions or private health care offerings, all cohorts have a dedicated and licensed mental health professional assigned to them.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness published a report citing access to mental health professionals as a continuing problem with 55% of people reporting they could not find a therapist or mental health professional accepting new patients.1 Further, WTW’s (formerly Willis Towers Watson) 2021 Wellbeing Diagnostic Survey, conducted in October 2021, found that approximately 86% percent of responding employers identified mental health, stress and burnout as priorities for their respective organizations, but approximately only 26 percent had adopted a well-being strategy.2
This represents the sixteenth investment from AFF since the Fund launched in Q4 of 2018. As with previous AFF investments in companies located outside the State of Alabama, Kaya will move its headquarters to Alabama. AFF served as the lead investor on the round with participation from other US-based investors. Redhawk Advisory, LLC (“Redhawk”) serves as the investment manager of AFF and advised AFF on the Kaya Care investment.
Corey Anand, the Founder and CEO of Kaya Care, shared his excitement about the Birmingham startup ecosystem, “We are very excited to be a part of the Birmingham startup community. Partnering with Alabama Futures Fund is a fantastic opportunity and allows us to grow and scale our business in the mental health space. We appreciate all the support we have received from Birmingham thus far, and we look forward to building a future here.”
Matt Hottle, Partner at Redhawk said, “We’ve seen the proliferation of mental wellness solutions over the last five years but those have been, almost exclusively, self-directed approaches where users are asked to interact with an app or an AI-powered interface. Kaya stood out because of its focus on delivering mental wellness programming to people through their employers and its exclusive use of licensed mental health clinicians. The lack of access to professional therapists will continue to be a challenge and Kaya represents an opportunity to bridge that gap.”
About Alabama Futures Fund, LP
AFF seeks to make seed and early-stage investments in Alabama-based operating companies and companies that are willing to relocate their headquarters and principal business operations to Alabama. AFF will target portfolio investments that demonstrate high growth potential, are led by coachable and adaptable founding teams and are focused on large total addressable markets. Additional information about AFF can be found at www.alabamafuturesfund.com.
About Redhawk Advisory, LLC
Redhawk is a registered Investment Advisor with offices in Birmingham. Founded in 2018 by Matt Hottle and Mickey Millsap, Redhawk focuses on identifying investments in early-stage startups with high growth potential across a broad range of industries. For more information, please visit www.RedhawkVC.com.
Contact: Matt Hottle
Telephone: 205-530-3722
E-mail: matt@redhawkadvisory.com
1 www.nami.org/Support-Education/Publications-Reports/Public-Policy-Reports/The-Doctor-is-Out#:~:text=People%20lack%20the%20same%20access,of%20primary%20or%20specialty%20care.
2 www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/employers-identify-workforce-mental-health-priorities-for-2022.aspx
