This pitch runs from 5:30 to 9:40 of the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WG7Ry77kKU
SEL (social-emotional learning) is an important focus area for many schools right now. This company claims to do SEL one better (on their website they say, “Advance beyond SEL”). The platform, targeting school districts in the U.S., offers both mental health screening for students as well as mental health curriculum for schools. The C.E.O. notes a growing demand and a market opportunity as more states legally require mental health screening for students. The company aims to provide “wraparound services” – coordinating support for students across education, healthcare, and home settings. They have a partnership with Thread Health, a healthcare provider, to offer doctor consultations. One concern I have with this company is the risk of improper screening or misdiagnosis since this uses technology rather than in-person psychiatric evaluations. I also wonder how their curriculum represents an improvement over traditional SEL curriculum.
Yes, I would invest in this venture. Student mental health is (sadly) an area with enormous room for growth. The data collection, data analysis, and communication infrastructure provided by Maro is sorely needed by many school districts and communities. I concur with David that false positives and false negatives could be a large hiccup, but as the screening, analysis, and amount of data all increase, I hope those issues are reduced. I think other investors will agree implementing Maro can save youth lives, and this product provides more services towards that cause than any competitor.