Natalie Schneider, CEO Fort Health

By partnering with pediatricians, schools, and the Child Mind Institute, Fort Health addresses the increasing demand for youth mental health services with the limited trained care providers. It provides fast access to licensed therapists, child psychologists, and psychiatrists through teletherapy, ensuring most patients receive care within seven days of referral.

The platform offers personalized treatment plans that integrate parent coaching, individual therapy, and medication management, all tailored to each family’s unique needs. Fort Health is also using an innovative collaborative care model that extends beyond traditional treatment. By integrating care coordinators who actively engage with teachers, parents, and pediatricians, Fort Health creates a comprehensive support network for children’s mental health. This team-based approach enables more frequent check-ins and continuous monitoring while billing through pediatricians makes care more accessible. Through their telehealth platform, Fort Health ensures this coordinated care team can seamlessly connect, allowing children to access specialized mental health support backed by ongoing communication between all stakeholders in their wellbeing, and demonstrating better health outcomes.

Fort Health collaborates closely with schools, often the first point of contact for mental health challenges, to provide direct, insurance-covered services without any added cost to the institutions. Fort Health is reshaping how families experience mental health care by prioritizing measurable outcomes and uncompromising clinical standards.

More about Fort Health:

“Fort Health Defies Challenging Funding Environment with New VC Raise, Expands into 2 States “– Behavioral Health Business 11/12/24

“Women VCs often prioritize industries and markets that may be underrepresented in traditional venture funding, such as femtech, consumer goods tailored for women, and healthcare. This leads to greater innovation in areas previously overlooked.  Having women in these key decision-making roles can help counter gender biases that exist in investment decisions. Female founders, for example, may find it easier to connect and communicate with female general partners, resulting in more equitable opportunities for women-led startups.” – Natalie Schneider

CEO: Natalie Schneider
Headquarters: Indianapolis, IN

Meet Natalie Schneider:

Background: Originally from South Africa, Natalie has a diverse background in strategy and digital health. She began her career at McKinsey & Company before joining Anthem (now Elevance Health), where she served as Vice President of Strategy and Customer Experience.

Her expertise in digital health was further solidified at Samsung, where she led the company’s digital health incubator as General Manager and Vice President of Digital Health, successfully bringing cutting-edge health technologies to market. Later, she joined a digital health startup, playing a key role in its preparation for sale as Executive Vice President of Provider Solutions.

Natalie Schneider, CEO Fort Health

Why Start Fort Health?  Natalie shares five children with her partner and is deeply passionate about addressing the nation’s youth mental health crisis. One in 5 kids has a mental health condition, but only 30% of kids needing help are getting it.  The primary barrier to getting care is affordability as youth mental health services are much more likely to be out of network.

Why Seek Venture Capital? Help with rapid expansion and scaling.  By increasing its provider network and reaching more families, Fort Health can address the widespread shortage of child and adolescent mental health professionals. This expansion is crucial for reducing the wait times that currently plague the mental healthcare system.  With additional funding, Fort Health can also further develop its proprietary digital platform, improving telehealth services, user experience, and personalized care plans. Advanced tools such as data-driven treatment plans can enhance care quality and optimize outcomes for children. This data-informed approach helps providers make more precise decisions about care and allows families to see measurable improvements in their child’s wellbeing.

Why True Wealth Ventures?  By partnering with a values-aligned investor like True Wealth, CEOs gain not only funding but also mentorship, strategic connections, and support that can elevate their start-ups in highly impactful sectors like healthcare and environmental sustainability.

Have you seen women General Partners bring a different perspective to the table?  Yes, Women VCs often prioritize industries and markets that may be underrepresented in traditional venture funding, such as femtech, consumer goods tailored for women, and healthcare. This leads to greater innovation in areas previously overlooked.  Having women in these key decision-making roles can help counter gender biases that exist in investment decisions. Female founders, for example, may find it easier to connect and communicate with female general partners, resulting in more equitable opportunities for women-led startups.  Lastly, women GPs frequently have a strong focus on social responsibility and tend to value businesses with a mission-driven approach. This can drive investments in sustainable and socially impactful ventures.  Incorporating these diverse perspectives ultimately strengthens the venture capital ecosystem by fostering innovation and helping to address gender and social inequalities.

Do you think a woman’s perspective is valuable to this market?  It’s critical, most of the stakeholders in youth mental health are women – from therapists, to caregivers, to pediatricians referring care.  It’s a female dominated field, so it only makes sense for the leadership team at Fort Health to represent the demographic it serves and hires.

Words of Wisdom:  “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” — Walt Disney

Action is the foundation of every great business. Don’t overanalyze; start building your idea today.