DynamiCare Health Raises Additional $1.5 Million to Expand Digital Care Program for Addiction Recovery
Evidence-based program combines award-winning app with supportive coaching, remote testing, and rewards
BOSTON (July 29, 2021) — DynamiCare Health, a Massachusetts-based digital health company, has raised an additional $1.5 million in seed funding to support the rollout of its evidence-based program to help people overcome substance use. The round was led by Early Light Ventures, with participation from a number of other investors, including existing investor Hyperplane Capital, physician-led MEDA Angels, Brown Angel Group, and leading mental health and addiction advocate, former U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy. The round brings DynamiCare’s total equity funding to $5.6M.
“DynamiCare has a world-class team, an award-winning product, rigorous evidence of effectiveness, millions of dollars in grants and prizes, and contracts with major payers and health systems across the country,” said Scott Garber, managing director of Early Light Ventures. “Their data-driven approach is leading to not only business success but also deep social impact for people affected by this disease.”
The DynamiCare digital platform reinforces a person’s recovery from addiction by offering random breath and saliva tests conveniently through their phone; treatment attendance check-ins verified by GPS; supportive telehealth recovery coaching; and rewards for healthy progress with deposits on a smart debit card that blocks cash withdrawals and spending at bars and liquor stores. The company has validated its effectiveness in 3 published clinical trials demonstrating 2-3x improvements in quit rates across drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
“Now that we’ve demonstrated our ability to increase quit rates by 2-3x in 3 published papers, we’re ready to expand,” said Eric Gastfriend, co-founder and CEO of DynamiCare Health. “COVID-19 has exacerbated behavioral health issues such as addiction. DynamiCare is able to offer a scalable, cost-effective solution by combining technology, hardware, rewards, and real human support and connection.”
“DynamiCare Health offers the kind of innovation the recovery community desperately needs. It’s taking underutilized tools that we’ve long known are effective from scientific literature, and bringing them into routine clinical practice at scale,” said former U.S. Rep. and advocate Patrick J. Kennedy, a former member of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. “As our country’s addiction epidemic deepens, DynamiCare provides an affordable and effective solution for payers and families to work together to help people achieve sustained recovery.”
DynamiCare’s digital care program is already being used by major health, health systems, and research universities across the country. With this seed funding, DynamiCare plans to grow adoption among health plans, employers, government agencies, and the direct-to-consumer market.
In addition to being recognized for innovation by investors, DynamiCare has won numerous awards totaling over $3M, including three grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Gov. John Kasich’s Ohio Opioid Technology Challenge, and a MassVentures START Phase I Grant. DynamiCare is a proud alum of the MassChallenge HealthTech accelerator, where it won the Platinum Award from Anthem in its Fast-Track to Scale program.
DynamiCare Health
DynamiCare Health is a technology platform for addressing substance use and rewarding healthy behavior. The platform automates Contingency Management, an evidence-based methodology that has been demonstrated to be effective in over 100 randomized controlled trials. Through encouragement and accountability, DynamiCare members achieve healthy goals with drugs, opioids, alcohol and tobacco. DynamiCare Health was founded in 2016 by Eric Gastfriend, Harvard MBA tech executive, and his father, David R. Gastfriend, MD, an international expert in addiction psychiatry. For more information, visit www.dynamicarehealth.com.
Early Light Ventures
Early Light Ventures focuses on providing funding for first-time founders with "need-to-have" B2B software products that have seen the opportunities in their industry firsthand. For more information, visit https://www.earlylight.vc/.
Patrick J. Kennedy
Patrick J. Kennedy, former U.S. Representative (D-RI), is the founder of The Kennedy Forum, a former member of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, co-founder of One Mind, and author of the New York Times bestseller “A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction.” For more information, visit https://www.thekennedyforum.org/.