Last week, Higher Ed Dive published an article about Uwill’s partnership with New Jersey announced by CEO Michael London and NJ’s higher ed secretary Brian Bridges. I see at least three important takeaways:
1. PLATFORMS ARE POSITIONED TO WIN
The human services sectors, especially education and allied health, are undergoing seismic changes through technology platforms that deliver human capital intensive services at scale. These platforms are digital first leveraging data to increase their speed of organizational learning. While there will be room in the market for smaller players, platforms will increasingly dominate these markets.
2. MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS IS BEING NORMALIZED
Once a hushed topic, mental health and wellness is being addressed in a forthright manner by elementary, secondary, and higher education. This is an important generational development that will build a healthier society. And this is not just a blue state phenomenon. Red states are leaning into mental health supports, although it may be called something different (e.g. psychosocial skills or behavioral supports rather than SEL.)
3. PLATFORM VALUATIONS WILL INCREASE DISPROPORTIONATELY
While spot solutions and support from local community organizations will always have relevancy, human capital-technology platforms are increasingly critical to winning in state marketplaces. We have seen this trend towards state contracting in other markets (e.g. Pearl – Enterprise Tutoring Platform delivering high dosage tutoring, or ReUp Education serving stopped out students). We expect this trend will extend more broadly into mental heath services at both the higher ed and K12 level.
Other companies to watch in higher ed include: Sonder, TimelyCare, Open Mind Health, and College Telehealth. And in K12: Hazel Health, eLuma, Effective School Solutions, Gaggle, Daybreak Health, Presence, E-Therapy, and Family Behavioral Resources.
As a final admonition, OUTCOMES WILL BE CRITICAL. If the NJ/UWill partnership results in verifiable, positive outcomes at a cost lower than an aggregation of spot solutions, then we can expect a proliferation of similar partnerships. If not, then these partnerships will be swept away.
