Ladder Health announced that it has raised $7 million in oversubscribed Seed funding to expand its virtual-first pediatric developmental care platform. The funding round was led by Nina Capital, with participation from Mairs & Power Venture Capital, South Dakota First Capital, and incubating partner 25madison Health. Hatteras Venture Partners, Create Health Ventures, Jumpstart Capital, White Oak Enterprises, Groove Capital, and 7Rock Ventures also participated in the round.
Ladder Health said the funding will support expansion across North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Maryland, accelerate entry into additional states, and continue investment in its AI-enabled care platform and health system partnerships.
The company is focused on addressing the waitlist crisis in pediatric developmental therapy. Ladder Health noted that more than 27 million children in the U.S. are in the first 1,000 days of life and the critical next 1,000 days through age five, which together represent a key window for brain development.
For roughly one in four children under age six who are at risk for a developmental delay or disability, families often face months-long waitlists, workforce shortages, and limited access to specialty care. Ladder Health said average wait times for in-network pediatric developmental therapy now exceed six months, with additional barriers affecting families on Medicaid and those in rural communities.
Ladder Health was built to reduce wait times from months to days. The company provides speech, occupational, physical, and feeding therapy through a virtual-first, AI-enabled platform available in the evenings and on weekends.
Unlike conventional therapy models centered on weekly visits, Ladder Health works directly with caregivers and activates parents as therapeutic partners. This approach extends care into the home between sessions and is designed to help children make progress faster.
The company also works with pediatric practices and health systems as a referral and care-extension partner. A team of Ladder liaisons builds relationships with providers to help them reach more families without increasing headcount.
Ladder Health was originally developed in collaboration with clinical experts at Boston Children’s Hospital. The platform now partners with more than 80 provider organizations and health systems across Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Maryland.
The company said its model helps pediatric practices improve continuity of care, reduce fragmentation, and reach families earlier in the developmental journey.
Boston Children’s Hospital holds equity in Ladder Health.
KEY QUOTES:
“Early developmental therapy changes life trajectories, but only if families can actually access it at the right time.”
“Half of families in the U.S. rely on Medicaid, and the system simply wasn’t built to serve them well. We built Ladder Health for this moment, when the demand for care exceeds the system’s capacity and too many families are left without access to the care their children need.”
Mitch Mudra, Co-Founder and CEO of Ladder Health
“Delays in accessing developmental care can have lasting consequences for children and families.”
“Ladder Health’s model represents an important evolution, leveraging technology to extend clinical expertise into the home, where so much of a child’s development actually happens.”
John Brownstein, Chief Innovation Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital
“Health systems are desperate for solutions that expand pediatric capacity, but traditional models are too expensive and hard to scale.”
“We led this round because Ladder Health has built a clinically rigorous model that solves the throughput crisis for providers while delivering immediate, life-changing care to the families who need it most.”
Marta G. Zanchi, Founder and Managing Partner at Nina Capital
“We were early believers that the right technology could extend expert developmental care beyond traditional care settings.”
“That opportunity remains especially significant for health systems serving rural and underserved communities.”
Walt Winslow, Director at 25madison
