INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Approximately 90 percent of people in need of rehabilitation services for drug and alcohol abuse don&t have access to them, according to
aSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrationsurvey
Why Often, because they don&t know where to look.
Santa Monica-based WeRecover wants to fill that information gap with itsKayak-like online
booking engine for rehab centers
The startup matching algorithm pairs people with an accredited rehab center with open beds, tailored to that person budget, insurance,
clinical needs and location.The goal is to make it easier for anyone seeking treatment for themselves or otherwise to quickly discover and
secure a spot at a facility, streamlining what can be a daunting and logistically complicated process that prevents people from receiving
the care they need.
Today, WeRecover is announcing another $2 million fundraise led by Crosslink Capital, bringing its total venture
capital backing to $4.5 million
Box Group, Wonder Ventures, Struck Capital and others also participated in the round.
&It a really obvious idea… but truly no
entrepreneurs anywhere were working to build a marketplace for addiction recovery centers,& WeRecover co-founder and chief executive officer
Stephen Estes told TechCrunch
&There an overwhelming need for a simpler way to connect with patients.&
WeRecover co-founder and chief executive officer Stephen
Estes.
Founded in 2016 by Estes and Max Jaffe, WeRecover has rapidly grown from connecting a few hundred people seeking treatment per month
to roughly 4,000 users last month
The startup now provides information on 11,000 treatment centers in 29 states
The goal is to have at least 1 program listed in every state by the end of 2018
Currently, most of the programs the company tracks are located in California, Florida, Arizona and Colorado.
Estes said the WeRecover
database is themost comprehensive database offree, nonprofitand state-funded treatment programs in existence, simply because no one had set
out to aggregate this particular set of information until now.
The startup plans to use the latest round of venture financing to continue
hunting down treatment centers to add to its database, expand its 16-person team and, eventually, Estes said, WeRecover would like to craft
and integrate content into the experience.
&We play a really important role in somebody journey,& he said
&They find treatment through us and we are part of one of the most important decisions they make in their life, so we should keep them
We do think there room to build an app to help people sustain their sobriety and connect them with their peers.&
WeConnect is an app to
support addiction recovery
