Ladder Health Raises $7M in Seed Funding Led by Nina Capital

The round also saw participation from Mairs and Power Venture Capital, South Dakota First Capital, 25madison Health, Hatteras Venture Partners, Create Health Ventures, Jumpstart Capital, White Oak Enterprises, Groove Capital, and 7Rock Ventures.

The company plans to use the funds to expand across North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Maryland, enter additional states and continue investing in its AI powered care platform and partnerships with health systems.

For more than 27 million children in the U.S., the first 1,000 days of life and the next 1,000 days through age five are the most important period for brain development.

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However, about one in four children under age six are at risk for developmental delays or disabilities, and families often face long waitlists, provider shortages, and limited access to specialty care. Average wait times for in-network pediatric developmental therapy now exceed six months, with even greater barriers for Medicaid families and those in rural areas.

Ladder Health was built to reduce wait times from months to days. The company provides speech, occupational, physical, and feeding therapy through a virtual-first, AI-enabled platform that is available in the evenings and on weekends.

Unlike traditional therapy models that rely on weekly in-person visits, Ladder Health works closely with caregivers and involves parents as active partners in therapy. Care is extended into the home between sessions to help children improve faster. The company also has a team of liaisons who work with pediatric practices and health systems to support referrals and help providers serve more families without adding staff.

Originally developed with clinical experts at Boston Children’s Hospital, the platform now works with more than 80 provider organizations and health systems across Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Maryland. It helps pediatric practices improve continuity of care, reduce fragmentation, and reach more families earlier in a child’s development.

That conviction was shared early by 25madison, where Ladder Health was incubated. "We were early believers that the right technology could extend expert developmental care beyond traditional care settings," said Walt Winslow, Director at 25madison. "That opportunity remains especially significant for health systems serving rural and underserved communities."

"Health systems are desperate for solutions that expand pediatric capacity, but traditional models are too expensive and hard to scale," said Marta G. Zanchi, Founder and Managing Partner at Nina Capital. "We led this round because Ladder Health has built a clinically rigorous model that solves the throughput crisis for providers while delivering immediate, life-changing care to the families who need it most."

"Delays in accessing developmental care can have lasting consequences for children and families," said John Brownstein, Chief Innovation Officer at Boston Children's Hospital. "Ladder Healths model represents an important evolution, leveraging technology to extend clinical expertise into the home, where so much of a childs development actually happens."

"Early developmental therapy changes life trajectories, but only if families can actually access it at the right time," said Mitch Mudra, co-founder and CEO of Ladder Health. "Half of families in the U.S. rely on Medicaid, and the system simply wasn't built to serve them well. We built Ladder Health for this moment, when the demand for care exceeds the system's capacity and too many families are left without access to the care their children need."

About Ladder Health

Founded by Elizabeth Kidder, Ladder Health is a virtual first pediatric care company that provides AI-powered developmental and therapeutic services for children and families. By involving caregivers, and extending care beyond the clinic, the company improves outcomes, expands access, and reduces costs, especially for families who the healthcare system has traditionally underserved.

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