Backpack Healthcare

Backpack Healthcare, formerly Youme Healthcare, is a pediatric and family mental health provider delivering therapy and psychiatry to children, adolescents and young adults through telehealth. Care is organized by age band — ages 4-10 (play-based therapy and parent coaching), ages 11-17, and ages 18+ — and addresses anxiety, ADHD, depression, autism support, behavioral concerns and OCD. Families complete an intake form and are matched with a clinician within one to two business days, with all visits conducted online and evening and weekend availability offered.

Alongside direct clinical services, the company operates an AI-powered app that monitors user emotions, supports matching with specialized therapists and delivers bibliotherapy content. A Care Companion app handles scheduling, secure messaging with the care team, assessments and mood tracking between visits, plus a library of articles, videos and worksheets recommended by clinicians. The company also runs live and asynchronous workshops and small-group coaching for parents, employees and children on topics such as cyberbullying and substance abuse.

For institutional buyers, Backpack markets enterprise products including CareAccess (a pediatric behavioral health platform integrated into care management workflows), ReadyDischarge (hospital-to-outpatient behavioral health transitions with tracking and practice management tools), a Tier 1-3 School Toolkit giving administrators insight into student behavioral health, CarePath (a centralized platform connecting local behavioral health providers), and chatbots and virtual assistants for immediate support. The company states it is not a crisis service and directs urgent needs to 988 and emergency care.

Founding story

Founder and CEO Hafeezah Muhammad has described starting the company after her six-year-old son needed mental health services in 2020, during the pandemic, and she struggled to find a provider that accepted Medicaid. Research into the gap — over 42 million children on Medicaid, over 20 million experiencing mental health symptoms, and only a small share of mental health providers accepting Medicaid — led her to found the company in 2021 as Youme Healthcare, later Backpack Healthcare, to address pediatric mental health access.

Business model

Backpack Healthcare delivers virtual therapy and psychiatry directly to families and bills insurance, accepting Medicaid and commercial plans including Aetna, Cigna and UnitedHealthcare, so that most families pay nothing out of pocket. The clinical service is paired with a software layer — the Care Companion app for scheduling, secure messaging, assessments and mood tracking, and a curated bibliotherapy library — and with enterprise offerings sold to providers, schools and government agencies. Parent training workshops and small-group coaching on topics such as cyberbullying and substance abuse complement the one-to-one care.

Revenue is generated primarily through insurance reimbursement — Medicaid and commercial plans, with the site citing 100+ accepted insurances — supplemented by enterprise and institutional contracts for its platform products and workshop/coaching offerings sold to providers, schools and government agencies.

Traction

The company reports having served more than 12,000 kids and families since 2020 and operating across five states. Published outcome figures include 78% of families reporting their child is doing better after three months, a 90% average reduction across anxiety and depression symptoms, 76% of patients with improved anxiety symptoms (56% clinically significant), 74% of licensed clinicians' patients and 77% of graduate clinicians' patients showing decreased symptoms, and an 88% clinician NPS. Total disclosed funding is $14 million from the 2024 Series A.

Latest developments

The most recent announced financing is the $14 million Series A disclosed in May 2024, led by PACE Healthcare Capital, intended to enhance the technology platform, expand into additional states and further develop teletherapy services, with a focus on Medicaid-enrolled youth. The company has since rebranded fully to Backpack Healthcare and lists service across five states, an expanded Care Companion app covering scheduling, messaging, assessments and bibliotherapy, and a suite of enterprise products for providers, schools and government.