- Uwill — a company that enables college students to connect on-demand with mental health professionals — announced that it raised $3.25 million
Uwill — a company that enables college students to connect on-demand with mental health professionals launched by veteran edtech entrepreneur Michael London — announced that it raised $3.25 million in a seed round of funding led by Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC. Uwill’s seed investors include Bright Horizons CEO Stephen Kramer and Princeton Review founder John Katzman.
The demand for mental health services on campus has exploded even before the pandemic with as many as 60% of college students reporting significant anxiety in the past year. And diagnoses increasing by over 50% between 2007 and 2017. The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated this challenge as recent research suggests that 8 in 10 students have seen their mental health negatively affected by the pandemic.
The company was designed to empower students through a gig economy platform that allows them to evaluate and match to the mental health professionals they select. And Uwill is known as the only secure teletherapy platform to offer a full suite of communication modalities, including video, text, phone, email, and chat. Plus Uwill’s leading-edge machine learning technology enables students to identify and connect with the counselor of their choice and provides flexibility in both scheduling and style of communication.
London previously served as CEO of Examity. And London is also the founding CEO of Bloomberg Institute, the founder of EdAssist, and the co-founder of College Coach.
KEY QUOTES:
“The COVID-19 crisis, and impacts of systemic racism, are taking a toll on students. This is about meeting students where they are by providing support in real-time through text and other channels students actually use. We’re partnering with colleges to complement the resources that already exist on campus to ensure that students can stay on track and graduate in a period of unprecedented uncertainty.”
— Darryl McDaniels — who has himself grappled with mental health issues and authored the bestselling book 10 Ways Not to Commit Suicide
“College campuses are facing a mental health crisis. We’re trying to further remove the stigma of counseling and put students in the driver’s seat, by connecting them with mental health professionals that they can get comfortable with and relate to. As many colleges prepare to conduct the next semester — or even year — entirely online, providing remote access to therapy and counseling while maintaining privacy will be a critical element of their efforts to drive persistence and student success.”
— Michael London
