ACCELERATE FUND III backs Care Group’s expansion of mental healthcare platform

The Care Group of Companies, headquartered in Edmonton, specializing in healthtech solutions, has successfully concluded a funding round of $2 million CAD. This round saw investment from Alberta’s Accelerate Fund III, managed by Yaletown Partners and supported by the provincial government.

In addition to Alberta’s Accelerate Fund III, Care Group disclosed that strategic angel investors and family offices also participated in the all-equity round. The company intends to utilize the funding to extend its presence into new markets across Canada and the United States throughout the remainder of this year and into 2025. To facilitate this expansion, the startup plans to bolster its workforce, particularly in support of its partnership initiatives, indigenous health endeavors, development efforts, and marketing strategies, as it gears up for growth.

Care Group chose not to reveal its total fundraising amount thus far. Established in 2019 by CEO and Director Ray Yue, along with COO Marline Aizouki, the company operates three distinct tech solutions tailored to various aspects of the healthcare sector: EaseCare, InstaCare, and CorpCare.

EaseCare offers a range of services including virtual mental health assessments and doctor consultations, which are publicly funded health services, along with private-pay counseling and therapy options.

On the other hand, the InstaCare platform equips clinics with a comprehensive dashboard enabling staff to prescribe medications, integrate billing systems, and facilitate inter-team communication. CorpCare, another offering from the Care Group, provides similar services as EaseCare and InstaCare but with a specific focus on enterprises catering to the healthcare needs of their employees.

Ray Yue emphasized the critical gap in access to care, particularly affecting rural, remote, and indigenous communities. In a statement, he highlighted the aim of their digital mental health technologies and programs to cater to the individual needs of each person, meeting them wherever they are in their journey, on their own schedule, and at their convenience.

Accelerate Fund III, initiated in 2020 by the Alberta Enterprise Corporation, a division of the Government of Alberta, is committed to offering capital to early-stage Alberta tech startups. The fund's objective is to support these startups in growing their revenues and teams, launching their products, and securing early customers, thereby fostering the growth of the local tech ecosystem.

In July of last year, Accelerate Fund III took part in leading the $1.5 million CAD seed round for Calgary-based WaitWell, aiming to support the expansion of its queue management and service-delivery software into new markets. Additionally, the fund supported Calgary emissions-management company Arolytics in its $3.5 million seed round to facilitate scaling and entry into the United States.

Care Group has reported that its platform is currently utilized by the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Center to offer mental health support to youth and their families. Furthermore, the company states that it has seen increasing adoption from a diverse range of communities, including urban areas, remote regions, and First Nations communities, all leveraging Care Group's services for mental health and addictions support.

Yasmine Al-Hussein, Investment Associate at Accelerate Fund III, highlighted the profound understanding of healthcare needs and challenges possessed by the founding team of Care Group, stemming from their decades of clinical experience.

In a statement, Al-Hussein emphasized the team's ability to grasp the perspectives of both patients and service providers. She commended Care Group's notable progress in modernizing and digitizing mental health treatment across various settings, including clinics, agencies, rural communities, and Indigenous communities.