Startup Rippl Targets ‘Broken’ Mental Healthcare System for Seniors | Healthcare Innovation
Seeking to help fix a “broken” mental healthcare system for seniors, a startup company called Rippl focused on caring for seniors with dementia and other neurocognitive conditions, launched with $32 million in seed round funding.
The company notes that seniors with neurocognitive mental health conditions and their families have little access to high quality, real-time, practical care, and are 3.5 times more likely to visit the emergency room and three times more likely to be admitted to the hospital. These patients cost Medicare 2.5 times more than seniors without a cognitive impairment. This problem will only grow more urgent with 16 million U.S. adults aged 50 and older living with a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder today – and more than eight million suffering from Alzheimer’s disease alone.
Rippl said it is pioneering a new care model to be offered by health plans that will expand access to wrap-around mental healthcare for seniors with dementia and other neurocognitive disorders – with an emphasis on making the experience work better for seniors, their families, and caregivers. The Rippl model, backed by a technology platform, will provide 24/7 access to care by experienced and passionate clinicians when and where seniors need it – on the phone, online or in their living rooms, the company said.
“Mental healthcare for seniors is broken,” said CEO and Co-Founder Kris Engskov, in a statement. “Our country’s healthcare system is not designed to tackle the needs of seniors with mental health challenges, particularly those struggling with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease – leaving many families and caregivers to navigate these complex conditions alone. We can no longer accept the status quo. From access and convenience to quality and equity, Rippl is rethinking what’s required to keep seniors with these specialized conditions healthier and at home – and out of the ER and long-term care.”
The funding round was led by ARCH Venture Partners and General Catalyst. The round also includes investment from GV, F-Prime Capital, and Mass General Brigham Ventures.
“One of the most obvious yet unaddressed areas of health care is how we treat seniors with cognitive impairments in their homes,” said Robert Nelsen, Rippl co-founder and board chair, and managing director of ARCH Venture Partners, in a statement. “We saw an opportunity to make a huge impact. We’ve pulled together a diverse team of people who come from a range of backgrounds. What connects them is they are all caregivers. We have a shared drive to redefine what a health care company looks like, and that’s by putting clinicians at the center of every decision we make.”
Rippl is led by a group of consumer product and healthcare veterans, all with experience as caregivers, including CEO and Co-Founder Kris Engskov, former President of Starbucks Coffee U.S., and President of Aegis Living; Co-Founder and Vice President of Strategy and Innovation Inca Dieterich, Ph.D.; Chief Medical Officer Aaron Greenstein, M.D.; Chief People Officer Jesse Schlueter; Vice President of Clinical Operations Karrie Austin, RN; and Vice President of Finance Jim Terry.