Cortica – a leading physician-led autism services company that treats the whole child and helps children with developmental differences thrive – announced it has closed a $75 million funding round and they have acquired Springtide Child Development. This funding round was led by Deerfield Management and Optum Ventures.
With the acquisition of Springtide – a premier integrated data-driven autism provider in the Northeast – Springtide’s investors have rolled their equity entirely into Cortica. Plus Cortica has also acquired the Melmed Center, a leading developmental pediatrics clinical and research group based in Arizona. Now the company owns and operates 23 integrated autism centers across the country.
Additional new investors include RA Capital Management and Echo Health Ventures along with existing Cortica investors Longitude Capital, .406 Ventures, Questa Capital, Ajax Health, Aperture Venture Partners, and the Autism Impact Fund.
Since being founded in 2017, Cortica has grown into an organization with over 1,600 employees, including pediatric neurologists, developmental pediatricians, epileptologists, pediatric nurse practitioners, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, music therapists, board-certified behavior analysts, registered behavior technicians, social workers, marriage and family therapists, care navigators, and more. And the company has also built the Cortica Innovation Network, a team of researchers and physicians who conduct outcomes research and are a global leader in clinical trial recruitment. Their work advances the neurodevelopment field and informs the Cortica Care Model with the latest breakthroughs in therapy and medical care. Through Cortica’s organic growth and new acquisitions, the company will serve over 10,000 neurodivergent children and their families this year.
KEY QUOTES:
“We’ve been very impressed with Springtide’s product and clinical quality. Our combination brings together two leaders in whole-child autism care and enables us to extend Cortica’s medical model to Springtide’s centers. We’ve also long admired the Melmed Center’s research and clinical capabilities and are thrilled to welcome them into Cortica as our platform for growth in Arizona. We’re honored to have Deerfield, Optum, RA, and Echo join our investor syndicate, which now includes five of the country’s leading health plans. This represents an important validation of our clinical outcomes, payer cost savings, and custom technology platform Axon.”
- Neil Hattangadi, M.D., Co-Founder and CEO of Cortica
“Springtide and Cortica share the same passion and holistic approach to serve children and families living with autism and neurodevelopmental differences. Our entire organization is energized to come together as one company, enabling us to provide even more services and care to those who depend on us as trusted partners.”
- Jia Jia Ye, Springtide’s Founder and CEO
“As a physician, former state Medicaid chief executive, and national health plan executive, I couldn’t be more excited about Cortica’s national leadership role in defining integrated care for children with autism as a new category for value-based care. The investment in Cortica and acquisition of our portfolio company Springtide will also accelerate the value-based care agreements that both companies have in the Northeast. Cortica’s validated whole-child care model delivers better outcomes at lower cost and represents the future of autism therapy.”
- Julian Harris, M.D., Operating Partner at Deerfield
