WASHINGTON, July 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hurdle, an innovative digital mental health platform company, announced today that Hopelab, a social innovation lab, will be joining the Hurdle investor community. The partnership will propel Hurdle's commitment to support minority youth by applying Hopelab's model of reverse-engineering health to develop tech-based interventions by identifying the key behavioral and psychological drivers of positive health outcomes.

"The strategic alignment between the work we are doing at Hurdle and the work at Hopelab will have a significant impact on us furthering our mission as the leading culturally responsive teletherapy company," explained Kevin Dedner, Founder and CEO of Hurdle. "Hopelab's support will further solidify our vision for making mental health support and treatment more accessible to young minority communities. Hurdle will greatly benefit from the talent and resources brought by Hopelab to achieve our goals." "Hopelab is excited to partner with Hurdle because of their impressive focus on using evidence and cultural competency to improve access and efficacy for people in BIPOC communities," said Margaret Laws, President and CEO of Hopelab. "We share a vision that co-creating solutions with young people can lead to improved outcomes in mental health and well-being and reductions in disparities. This investment is an important step toward realizing that vision."

As a leading social innovation lab, Hopelab is committed to supporting and improving the health and happiness of young people through the co-creation and distribution of behavior-change tech. Hopelab does this through funding challenging and meaningful projects that can have a profound impact on social good. Since 2001, Hopelab has developed award-winning health and well-being solutions with and for teens and young adults; recent work has focused on how technology can be leveraged to support these efforts. Hopelab was founded by The Omidyar Group, a diverse collection of organizations and initiatives supported by philanthropists Pierre and Pam Omidyar.

About Hurdle

Established in 2018, Hurdle is a digital platform revolutionizing mental health care by providing services with a focus on culturally sensitive self-care support for people of color. According to the American Psychiatric Association, Black Americans often receive poorer quality of care and lack access to culturally competent care. Only one in three Black Americans who needs mental health care receives it. Hurdle is working to break down the barriers to mental health care for people of color to create an equitable behavioral health service with culturally responsive care and resources. For more information, please visit www.hurdle.co.

About Hopelab

Hopelab is a nonprofit social innovation lab and impact investor based in San Francisco, CA that creates behavior-change tech to help teens and young adults live happier, healthier lives. The organization works with young people to co-create interventions grounded in behavioral science and human-centered design, conducts rigorous testing, and distributes these solutions in collaboration with partners. Learn more at hopelab.org.