HeyKiddo™

HeyKiddo is on a mission to reverse the childhood mental health crisis by giving parents the tools to support their children's mental, social and emotional health at home.

Children in the US are experiencing unprecedented mental, social and emotional health problems, which pandemic setbacks have exacerbated. Approximately 5.7 million children ages 5-12 are diagnosed with a mental health condition (1 in every 6 children). This does not account for the added 20-60% of children (additional 1-3 million children) who are struggling, yet go undiagnosed. 

The National Institute of Mental Health notes suicide is the second leading cause of death in children ages 10-14 and tenth leading cause of death for children 5-9. The Children’s Hospital Association documented a more than double increase in emergency room visits for suicidal thoughts and self-harm among 6- to-12-year-olds during the pandemic. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics has declared the mental health crisis among children is so dire it is a national emergency.

The research is clear, if left untreated, social, emotional and mental health deficits in childhood lead to educational and professional underachievement, family disruption, substance use/abuse, violence, ongoing interpersonal relationship struggles and countless other life challenges.

Early intervention is key when it comes to positive outcomes for childhood mental health. Research shows that positive mental, social and emotional skill development leads to improved academics, behavior, interpersonal relationships, mental health and positive wellbeing throughout the lifespan. 

Despite these facts, the CDC notes that only about 20% of children receive care from a mental health care provider. Additionally, according to the American Psychological Association, only 4% of clinical psychologists are trained to provide child and adolescent treatment. This is a real barrier to getting the specialized care parents and children need. 

But that is not the only barrier parents face. Other barriers to care, including access and affordability, are also largely to blame here, with disparities becoming even more glaring in rural communities, communities of color, and for communities in poverty, where there may be a healthcare provider shortage, systemic mistrust in the healthcare system, and higher rates of stigma concerning mental health. Research has shown that people of color and individuals from lower income communities are less likely to seek, and more likely to delay receiving, mental healthcare. In fact, people of color are three times more likely to have unmet mental health needs. The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated racial and ethnic disparities in access with nearly 70% of African Americans and Hispanic Americans with a mental health concern not receiving treatment. 

Technology can be used to break down these barriers and provide early, equitable intervention. Innovative smartphone solutions, like HeyKiddo™, can reach parents from all backgrounds, as 85% of adults in the U.S., regardless of race and socioeconomic status, own a smartphone. Technology can also break down affordability barriers by offering cost effective solutions that give parents, who may not be able to afford other forms of support, access to expert created, culturally inclusive, evidence-based educational resources.

Please watch a demo of HeyKiddo™ by clicking this link.

HeyKiddo™ is a smartphone coaching app, created by psychologists, for parents of children ages 5-12, to increase parenting confidence and decrease concerning childhood behavior. HeyKiddo™ is available on both Apple and Play Stores. HeyKiddo™ is not a replacement for therapy. It is an additional tool that assists parenting adults in reversing the child mental health crisis by giving them the resources they need to raise healthy children. 

The innovation of the app lies in its ability to tailor expert created, evidence-based resources to the specific needs of a parent and child, using rules engines. The HeyKiddo™ App is different from other parent coaching apps on the market, in that it collects data about the specific child with the aim of using this data to quickly deliver evolving, dynamic content, as opposed to static modular curriculum-based learning. 

By considering the unique background and context of each parent and child, the app can better meet their specific needs and goals, leading to quicker access to relevant information that develops specific healthy behaviors. In addition, this data is used to detect when child behaviors require a higher level of care and delivers action-driven resources on how parents can access it.

For example, a parent using the app has a 5-year old diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), who is working to increase focus and attention with their child and would receive dynamic, tailored content based on these specific goals. 

Ongoing mood, behavior and situation tracking enable the app to “evolve” based on changing goals and developmental milestones, using machine learning to make sure the parent continues to receive the most relevant information to fit their child’s goals and needs. For example, if the child is being bullied at school and also failing their coursework, as reported in the daily check-ins within the app, HeyKiddo™ will also deliver resources relevant to these concerns so the parent can proactively address them. 

Advancements in generative AI, paired with machine learning, have enabled the HeyKiddo™ App to get even more specific in its ability to deliver content that takes into account the uniqueness of family. 

Features that combine generative AI and machine learning, like the HeyKiddo™ Parent Coaching Chatbot, allow the app to deliver parents tailored resources specific to in-the-moment concerns with their child, instantly. Considering parent and child data, this chatbot feature pulls from theHeyKiddo™ expert-created resource library, and deploys LLMs, to instantly deliver the most specific insights and resources to arm parents with the knowledge and tools they need to address the concerns and meet goals they have set with their child. 

The HeyKiddo™ App strives to put child development expertise and tailored, actionable, evidence-based solutions, into the hands of every parent.

The HeyKiddo™ App was created for Jen, the mother in the cracked doorway of her 10-year old son’s room. She knows he has been struggling with anxiety for several months but the waitlist to see a therapist is over 6 months. She stands there wondering, “How can I prevent this from escalating?” Overwhelmed by not knowing how to help, she walks away feeling helpless.

Jen is not alone. As a clinical psychologist with over 20 years in the profession (and most importantly, as a parent myself who is scared about the future for my child), joined by a team of experienced child and family development experts, we have been hearing and treating similar heartbreaking stories from caregivers like Jen for years. 

These struggles, coupled with the significant challenges with access to mental health care, have only intensified in frequency and severity since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Early intervention is key to mental, social and emotional health outcomes and how we shape our children early on shapes their future. No shaping is more powerful than what a child learns at home. But to do this, we need to think beyond traditional mental healthcare. We also need to consider leveraging technology to make resources and support equitable, accessible and affordable for all parents. This is critical if we are going to make a difference in the childhood mental health crisis. 

This is why we created the HeyKiddo™ App. We are trying to fill this huge gap that exists in the child mental health market by giving parenting adults the tools they need to open up the lines of communication, learn how to model the skills and behaviors they are trying to build in their children, and learn when and how to seek support to prevent further escalation.

In terms of the difference HeyKiddo™ App can make, initial research with the app has yielded promising results. 80% of parents who used our app over the course of 12-weeks showed increased parenting confidence and saw improved mental, social and emotional health functioning in their child. In addition, parents reported that the app: increased knowledge around emotions, helped create safe spaces, enhanced attunement to their child, increased  motivation to become a better parent, increased empathy and patience, enhanced child communication and emotional expression, decreased meltdowns, and promoted teamwork in the family.

Ongoing app research and development efforts are geared toward increasing access and insight into impacts with disadvantaged and special population groups. Current pilots in reserve with these groups include: rural families, parents of children with intellectual/developmental disabilities, foster families and military families. 

We are also employing a B2B2C model in order to ensure the greatest reach, selling through government agencies, institutions that service children and families, and employee benefit companies, so parents who may not be able to afford it still have access.

HeyKiddo, LLC is a female-owned and led technology company with a proven track record for research and development success. Through ongoing customer discovery and engagement, we ensure we are guided by the input of parents to make sure we are building an effective solution they will want to use. 

Expertise in child development, psychology and ethics are at the center of our approach to building technology solutions. We are proud about the thoughtful ways we’ve built our technologies. We put ethics and equity at the forefront, making sure we are building inclusive, accessible, affordable, and safe to use technologies.

We are a two-time National Science Foundation Grant winning team and as a team won second place in the Milken Penn GSE global competition, in addition to our other education and mental health technology awards.

The team is led by Dr. Nicole Lipkin, Matthew LeLeux and Dr. Kayla LaBarge. 

Dr. Nicole Lipkin, founder and a 20+ year practicing clinical and organizational psychologist, founded and scaled one of the largest therapy practices with over 80+ clinicians for 17 years before exiting to focus on HeyKiddo. Leading this business provided her with deep insight into the unique challenges of a business focused on mental health and has prepared her to lead and scale HeyKiddo. 

She is joined by Matthew LeLeux, Director of Technology, who has deep expertise in ideation, development and launch of web/mobile/cloud technology products with additional expertise in security and compliance. 

Dr. Kayla LaBarge, Director of Product and Research, is a a seasoned clinical-research psychologist. She has extensive experience in the intersection between psychology, research, and technology and leads the team’s content, product and project management and research.

Our larger global team consists of seasoned psychologists, therapists, content creators, software engineers and designers - all of whom have worked together for years - and who have deep expertise in how to create technology that can positively influence parenting using psychology. Having a team with members from almost every continent creates the diversity needed to make innovative ideas a reality, ensuring we are considering many different perspectives and approaches when it comes to our work.

Our advisors complement our team with strong experience in business, technology, design, product management, and mental health policy. They have enabled us to stay lean, while also ensuring we have experts around us to help make this journey toward scaling up a tremendous success.

Since the start of development in 2020, the team has completed several rounds of customer discovery and research and development. However, we are still at the early stages of commercialization iterating the design and business model and looking to gain traction. 

So far we have accomplished:

Initial NSF Funding and Discovery - Received NSF PH1 Small Business Innovation Research award and participated in ICORPS to accelerate customer discovery and business model development. Approximately 150 parents interviewed.

MVP Development and Research - Conceptualized, designed, developed and researched functionality and impact of the HeyKiddo App MVP. Approximately 75 parents participated in research and testing.

Private Investment and Phase 2 Funding - Participated in PACT Conference and received first private investments and received NSF PH2 Small Business Innovation Research Award. Two private investments secured.

Commercial Development and Research - Completed iterations to the app based on feedback from parents and launched to the Apple and Play app stores in December 2024. Currently testing functionality and completing impact research with over 500 parent participants, 2 employee health marketplace partners and 1 elementary school.

The HeyKiddo team seeks to leverage the support provided by Solve to address common barriers early stage startups like ours face including market, financial, technical, and cultural barriers. By tapping into the resources, expertise, and networks involved in this program, we can accelerate our growth and scale successfully, while positively impacting the lives of a growing number of parents and children.

Market Access - Breaking into new markets and reaching target audiences can be challenging without the right partnerships. By tapping into Solve's network of partners, HeyKiddo can amplify its market presence, forge collaborations and partnerships that drive user acquisition efforts.

Financial Support - Finding funding for a pre-revenue generating startup can be a major obstacle. Leveraging Solve’s network of investors, as well as taking advantage of grant opportunities, can alleviate financial strain, enabling us to allocate resources toward growth efforts. 

Technical Expertise - Being a lean team can present unique challenges. Having access to the Solve community of technical advisors would be invaluable to our team and to the product and will enable us to stay at the cutting edge of innovation in our industry.

Cultural Inclusivity - Providing culturally relevant and inclusive resources to parents and children from many different backgrounds is a key mission at HeyKiddo. By collaborating with Solve’s global network of entrepreneurs, we will gain key insights into the needs of many diverse communities as we move toward localization/globalization efforts.

Innovations in technology that are able to take into account unique differences in the backgrounds of their users, can break down multicultural barriers, equipping parents with resources that are uniquely relevant and specific to their child.

At the current time, many mental health/coaching apps on the market are static, providing modular learning courses. These modules are generally pre-set courses, where each course takes learning a bit further than the previous course. Generally, there is also a series of modular learning courses a user will work through to reach larger behavior goals. 

Even the most popular mental health apps on the market, like Headspace, use a modular learning course design to build mindfulness/meditation skills. For example, a Headspace user can choose course topics (e.g., kindness, acceptance, relationships), these courses are made up of ten pre-recorded, pre-set meditations that build on each other, toward the larger goal of learning to practice mindfulness.

The HeyKiddo™ App is different, in that it collects data about the specific child with the aim of using this data to quickly deliver dynamic content, as opposed to static modular curriculum-based learning.

By considering the unique background and context of each parent, child and family, the HeyKiddo™ App meets the specific needs and goals of parents, leading to quicker access to relevant information,  and quicker reduction in concerning behaviors they are noticing in their child. 

These outcomes are also linked to increases in parenting confidence, as a parent learns more, applies working solutions, and begins to see a real difference in their child.

Primary impact goals for HeyKiddo are engagement, effectiveness and helpfulness: 

Engagement will be measured using several metrics that are tracked through backend Google Analytics and includes average time and frequency of use. This will allow us to measure if parents are actively engaged and using the app. 

• Time - This metric will examine time spent on the app, using aggregated data to determine on average, 1) How much time do parents spend on the app? and 2) What is the average range of time spent on the app? 
• Frequency - This metric will examine frequency of use and resources to determine 1) How frequently are they using the app? and 2) How many resources are being accessed on average?

Effectiveness will be measured using several parent self-report metrics delivered as a part of the ongoing in-app assessment, as well as qualitative user feedback. These will allow us to examine whether parents see meaningful changes in their child, as well as themselves, over time. 

• Parent Confidence - Parents will be asked “How confident did you feel this week?” answered on a sliding scale that ranged from 1 (not confident) to 5 (totally confident) delivered through in-app assessment. This will allow us to see changes in parenting confidence overtime. 
• Child Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Skills - Parents will complete the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment - Mini Form (DESSA-mini), an 8-item standardized measure of essential MSE health skills for children ages 5-13. The assessment uses a 4-point Likert scale to create an overall sum of social-emotional skills, ranging from 0 (deficit) to 32 (strength) delivered through in-app assessment. This assessment will allow us to see how SEL skills are changing over time, using a well-known, standardized assessment. 
• Behavior and Mood Changes - Parents will have the option to retake the HeyKiddo™ Assessment, within the app, each week to update the content they received based on endorsed MSE health goals (e.g., decreasing worry and stress) and common childhood events (e.g., bullying or divorce) and situational factors that may be impacting the child (e.g., failing a test, losing a pet). This will allow us to see changes in child behavior, mood and situations over time and also to identify correlations and trends in these changes.

Helpfulness will be measured using helpfulness ratings built into the app, as well as qualitative user feedback from user review on the app stores. These will allow us to examine whether parents find resources and features of the app helpful. 

• Helpfulness ratings - Understanding how helpful parents find the app is important, therefore, parents will be able to provide ratings on all content within the app, ranging from 1 star (not at all helpful) to 5 stars (extremely helpful) delivered through in-app assessment. 
• User Feedback - User testimonials submitted via the Apple and Google Play App Stores will be used to continue to assess the impact of the app.

The HeyKiddo App is a mobile app solution built using the Nativescript framework which currently empowers us to access native APIs for both iOS and Android with one single Angular/Typescript codebase. 

With this framework we are able to utilize plugins such as Google Firebase (Analytics, Crashlytics, Messaging, etc.), Smartlook, Lottie and Rive Animations, Socket.IO that help us bring the app to life. 

For our service side technologies, we are using many different Microsoft Azure solutions. We have several Alpine Linux Docker containers (microservices) running on Azure App Services using NodeJS Express, Socket.IO, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, OpenAI, and many more tools to fulfill all web requests for the application. 

We are also using Azure Functions for things such as pipeline management, email automation, data manipulation, and much more. DevOps tools include Azure DevOps & Pipelines for CI/CD workflows.

Approximately 25 collaborators, including full-time (4) and part-time staff (6) interns (6), external contractors (3) and advisors (6), work on our solution team.

The initial concept (Young Leader Project) developed in 2017. We pivoted to developing the HeyKiddo in 2020. We have spent the last 3.5 years working to build and scale it.

At HeyKiddo, diversity, equity and inclusion aren't just checkboxes, they’re fundamental to our success. We have been intentional about cultivating an inclusive workplace where every team member can bring their best selves to work. We do this by:

Empowering Women in Tech - As a technology company primarily owned and led by women, we understand the importance of increasing female representation in the tech industry. Through internships and practicum experiences, we provide hands-on guidance and support to the next generation of innovators, breaking down barriers and paving the way for the future.

Thoughtful Leadership Approach - With our leadership team predominantly composed of psychologists, we bring a unique perspective to building our team. We've carefully crafted a culture that prioritizes psychological safety – a place where team members feel comfortable being themselves, sharing their ideas, and taking risks. By fostering trust and open communication, we create an environment where innovation and collaboration flourish.

Embracing Global Diversity - Our team spans continents, bringing together individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and life experiences. By harnessing the power of varied perspectives, we fuel creativity and innovation, ensuring that our solutions are truly inclusive. Having a global team also allows us to integrate technology innovations and ideas from around the world, making our products more cutting edge and well-informed.

Creating Space for Everyone - In our workplace, everyone's voice matters. We actively cultivate an environment where every team member feels heard, respected, and valued. Members of the team are encouraged to make time to cultivate true, deep relationships with other members of their team. We genuinely enjoy working and being together. In addition, regular feedback meetings and inclusive decision-making processes ensure we prioritize inclusivity and equity in everything we do. 

Understanding Life Happens - Life is unpredictable, and we understand that our team members have diverse needs and responsibilities outside of work. We offer flexible, remote work arrangements to make sure our team can do their best work while taking care of what's important to them. We also show up for each other and pick up the rope so momentum continues when another team member may have to step away.

We are employing a B2B/B2B2C model in order to ensure that our solution has the greatest reach and can be adopted by families who may not have the means to pay for it directly. 

After extensive research into various channels, we have decided that the following three channels - 1) institutions that service children and families, 2) employers and employee benefit companies, and 3) schools or companies that support schools - will allow us to have the greatest ability to get HeyKiddo™ into the hands of as many families as possible.

For the past year, we have been establishing relationships with decision makers in these channels in preparation to run pilots. The purpose of running pilots prior to sale is threefold: to ensure the content and experience is accessible and relevant to the various communities; to perform research to ensure that the product is providing value and positive impact specific to the population and; to secure adoption through funding and/or grants so these institutions can provide HeyKiddo™ to their communities. 

The first B2B2C channel institutions that service children and families. This channel allows us to meet our mission of getting this support into the hands of all families, not just the ones that can purchase it on their own. These institutions include nonprofits, and state and local agencies that are seeking content for middle childhood mental, social and emotional health. This channel is our social impact channel and allows us to reach underserved families and communities. We have formed relationships with several institutions to date to initiate these pilots. 

Our second channel targets employers and employee benefit companies. This channel allows us to help organizations support their employees by giving them tools and resources to support themselves and those in their families. With our enterprise solution, companies can provide HeyKiddo™ to their employees who have children and through the enterprise portal can learn how to support their workforce with resources related to family, parenting, general mental health and employee wellbeing. We are working with various companies to set up pilots to determine what other features may be needed by employers and companies for adoption of the app.

Once we have completed outcome studies with the app we will look to sell to our third channel, which is schools. One of our research hypotheses is that use of HeyKiddo™ at home will reduce behavioral concerns in the classroom and the time utilization of the school mental health staff. If we find that there is a positive impact, through our pilot research with schools, we would like to sell to schools or companies that support schools.

The HeyKiddo team has been awarded a total of $1,233,724 from the National Science Foundation with a Phase I and Phase II SBIR grant. This grant money has been integral in the research and development of the HeyKiddo app. Prior to HeyKiddo being funded, the same team was awarded another National Science Foundation Phase I grant of $233,133 for a different project. In total, this team has been awarded $1,466,857 by the National Science Foundation. 

We will also be applying for supplemental funding from the National Science Foundation that is available to Phase II SBIR grantees. This funding will range between $400,000-$600,000. 

In November 2022, HeyKiddo was one of three companies, out of approximately 50 pitching companies, that was invited into the Lion’s Den (similar to Shark Tank in set up) at the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technology (PACT) annual capital conference. Two investors, John Martinson and Ira Lubert, each offered investments of $200,000 for a total of $400,000. After due diligence with both investors over the course of a few months, a SAFE was signed with each investor and funds, totaling $400,000, were transferred into the HeyKiddo account in early May 2023. The SAFE has a post-money valuation cap of 3,500,000.00 with a discount rate of 20%. These particular investors are investors that prefer to continue investing in their companies if traction is achieved.

Additionally, HeyKiddo has another product, HeyKiddo Huddle™, which is a complete social-emotional curriculum for schools. This product was developed prior to funding or the R&D of the app. We have decided not to invest in marketing or sales efforts of this product until we are bringing in revenue, given saturation of the market for SEL products. However, we are keeping this product in tact for the potential of connecting the app with the SEL product in the future for schools. Although we do not market or actively sell, this product does bring in some minor revenue along with speaking engagements from the Founder.   

We currently have approximately 18-months of runway allowing us the space to continue R&D on the app while running pilots and implementing our go-to-market strategy.