Baltimore-based startup Youme Healthcare has acquired fellow startup Hurdle Health for an undisclosed price. According to data captured in the LevinPro HC database, this acquisition represents the 184th eHealth transaction of 2023, including 36 in the telehealth specialty.
Founded in 2018, Hurdle Health is a Washington, D.C.-based company that provides culturally intentional online mental health support to people of color. Since its inception, Hurdle Health has raised more than $5 million in venture capital funding.
Youme Healthcare is a Baltimore-based healthcare practice focused on child, teen and family behavioral and mental health, including cognitive talk therapy and medication management/psychiatry. Youme’s telehealth counseling services expand access to all children and families residing in Maryland.
Youme Healthcare will rebrand Hurdle Health as Backpack Healthcare. Hurdle’s founder, Kevin Dedner, will not be joining the merged company, but he said in a statement that Hurdle’s legacy will live on through Backpack’s “capable stewardship.”
Backpack Healthcare will focus on providing mental health counseling to children and their families. It will be run by Youme founder Hafeezah Muhammad. Backpack Healthcare will have roughly 50 full-time licensed therapists on staff and is looking to double that number by the end of the year.
