Cortica Closes $40 Million Series D Extension Led by CVS Health Ventures, LRVHealth, and Other Strategic Investors, Bringing Round Total to $115 Million

Funding to Support Expanded Access to Whole-Child, Value-Based, Outcomes-Driven Autism Care

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cortica, the United States' leading physician-led, whole-child, value-based autism services company, has raised $40 million in a Series D extension, bringing the total Series D round to $115 million. The extension was entirely strategic, led by CVS Health Ventures, in conjunction with LRVHealth, Ascension Investment Management (a subsidiary of Ascension), and the University of Wisconsin Foundation.

"There is an increasing need for access to evidence-based care for children with neurodivergent conditions and autism, and we believe that Cortica is well positioned to help support our members and their dependents by deploying an integrated, medical and behavioral care model," said Justin Brock, partner at CVS Health Ventures. "Through our investment and collaboration with Cortica, we believe that we can help improve the overall quality of care for individuals with autism, as well as provide support to their caregivers."

Founded to fix the fragmented care journey families typically experience when seeking diagnoses and treatments, Cortica's whole-child, whole-family, value-based care model for autism spans medical treatment, neurodiversity-affirming behavioral therapy, developmental therapy (encompassing speech, occupational, physical, and music therapies), and family support and counseling.

Cortica's care model has shown improved outcomes across conditions that frequently co-occur with autism, including sleep disorders, seizures, psychiatric comorbidities, and gastrointestinal, communication, behavioral, and sensorimotor issues, among others – while utilizing less than 50% of standard applied behavioral analysis volumes, limiting the use of antipsychotic and stimulant medications, and reducing emergency department and inpatient admissions.

Cortica delivers on multiple metrics related to the healthcare effectiveness data and information set (HEDIS), one of the healthcare industry's most widely used performance tools. Cortica's value proposition has led to four whole-child value-based care contracts, with several more in the pipeline.

"After working closely with our strategic network and developing a deep thesis on autism, one of the most complex challenges in healthcare, we're thrilled to have discovered and invested in Cortica," said Ellen Herlacher, principal at LRVHealth. "Cortica's validated care model and technology platform improve clinical outcomes, enhance the healthcare experience, and reduce waste in the system."

The additional funding will support the company's continued national scaling of whole-child autism value-based care, as well as deeper investments in technology, data capture, clinical decision support, research, and optimization of the clinician and patient experience.

"I'm deeply grateful to have the support of these impactful and visionary strategic partners," said Neil Hattangadi, MD, co-founder and CEO of Cortica. "With 1 in 36 children in the United States now affected with autism, and that prevalence continually climbing, partnerships between the field's most innovative clinicians, strategic investors, health plans, and health systems are essential to defragment the traditional care model and evolve the reimbursement paradigm. We can no longer wait. Collectively, we're in a position to solve one of the most pressing challenges confronting humanity."

About Cortica Inc.
Cortica's mission is to design and deliver life changing care – one child, one family, one community at a time. Founded in 2017, Cortica now employs more than 1,800 experts across disciplines, including pediatric neurologists, developmental pediatricians, epileptologists, pediatric nurse practitioners, speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, music therapists, board certified behavior analysts, marriage and family therapists, and more. The researchers and physicians in the company's Cortica Innovation Network conduct outcomes research, serve as global leaders in clinical trial recruitment, and have assembled the largest long and wide dataset in autism and neurodevelopment. Cortica will serve more than 12,000 children and their families this year. For more information, visit corticacare.com.

About CVS Health Ventures
CVS Health Ventures is a dedicated corporate venture capital fund that works with high-potential, early-stage and growth-stage companies focused on making health care more accessible, affordable, and simpler. The company focuses on investments that transform care delivery and focus on whole person care, consumer-centric health, and disruptive technology enablement. CVS Health Ventures' goal is to enable promising entrepreneurs to scale more quickly and effectively through access to their unmatched enterprise capabilities and consumer touchpoints, while offering expertise and insights from their company's unique perspective. For more information, visit cvshealth.com/health-care-redefined/ventures.html.

About LRVHealth
LRVHealth is the "Inside Healthcare" venture capital platform. Through a network of strategic limited partners that includes leading providers, payers, and vendors and touches half of all healthcare consumers in the U.S., LRVHealth applies industry knowledge and operational experience to early-stage companies focused on innovation. LRVHealth's exclusive focus is helping to transform healthcare by forging partnerships among its network members and the entrepreneurs addressing the industry's biggest challenges and opportunities. For more information, visit lrvhealth.com.

About Ascension Investment Management, LLC
Ascension Investment Management (AIM) is an SEC-registered investment adviser with a mission to help faith-based organizations meet their operating, investment, and mission goals by investing its clients' capital according to their values. AIM is a Missouri limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Ascension Capital, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ascension, one of the nation's leading non-profit and Catholic health systems, with a Mission of delivering compassionate, personalized care to all with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. For more information, visit ascensioninvestmentmanagement.com.

About the University of Wisconsin Foundation 
The University of Wisconsin Foundation (UWF) raises, invests in, and distributes funds for the benefit of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. UWF's mission is to help ensure that the University of Wisconsin-Madison has the financial resources necessary to maintain its national leadership in teaching, innovative research, and outreach. For more information, visit supportuw.org.