Forefront Telecare Closes Series A Funding, Announces New Chief Executive Officer

NOVATO, Calif., Jan. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Forefront Telecare Inc. (Forefront), the leader in providing behavioral telehealth to vulnerable seniors in rural facilities across the United States, announced today that it has closed a Series A Preferred growth equity funding, led by Spring Lake Equity Partners and including the Ziegler Link●Age Fund. Ziegler's corporate finance group served as the company advisor for the raise. Forefront also announced that Rob Rebak, a 25-year healthcare industry veteran, joined as chief executive officer.

Forefront was formed in 2010 with the goal of delivering high-quality behavioral telehealth to Medicare populations in rural geographies where care options are limited, such as rural hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. A troubling report by the CDC titled "The State of Mental Health and Aging in America" found that at least 20 percent of Americans over 55 years old experience a mental health problem every year. And according to U.S. Census data from 2016, 75 percent of rural counties do not have a psychiatrist. These grim realities signal that a solution like Forefront can make a significant positive impact, as it has already done in 20 states.

"Today is what I call the era of 'mission-driven innovation' in healthcare. Forefront is one of the companies that truly views the technology-enabled care experience through the eyes of its patients, which was very appealing to me," said Mr. Rebak. "The company is laser-focused on helping some of the most vulnerable among us, our struggling seniors, to cope with challenges that those living in our cities also deal with - depression, anxiety, dementia and thoughts of suicide. In rural communities, these challenges are magnified significantly by the lack of relevant clinicians. I admire what Forefront has done to address these problems of access, quality, cost and integration, and am very excited to begin our next chapter."

The company plans to use the Series A investment to grow its nationwide network of telepsychiatry and related providers, further develop its HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform and expand into new states.

"We are delighted to welcome Rob Rebak to lead our company into the next stage of growth," said Merritt Widen and Phil Knudsen, co-founders of Forefront. "We couldn't be more proud of our entire team and angel investors who helped us navigate the pioneering stages of the telehealth industry. We appreciate the services of Ziegler corporate finance and the commitment from Spring Lake and the Ziegler Link●Age Fund to help us take advantage of the tremendous opportunity that lies before us."

"Forefront's talented team is focused on delivering its high-quality, cost-effective behavioral telehealth programs to more facilities and patients in need. We are proud to support this important mission and we are excited to add Rob Rebak to this talented and dedicated team," said Jeff Williams, partner at Spring Lake Equity Partners.

Mr. Rebak is a 25-year healthcare industry veteran and brings a broad range of strategic and operational experiences from Fortune 500 companies to early-stage ventures within the life science, HCIT and digital health industries. Prior to Forefront, he was president and CEO of AbleTo, a behavioral telehealth platform, and CEO and chairman of QualityHealth, a digital patient acquisition and engagement platform. Earlier in his career, Mr. Rebak held leadership and commercial positions at Pfizer, Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

About Forefront Telecare Inc.

Forefront is a pioneer and U.S. leader in the delivery of behavioral health services via our unique HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform which incorporates software, hardware and comprehensive service protocols developed over years in the field. Our national provider network of psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners and other behavioral health professionals work with Forefront to serve the behavioral health needs of our clients and patients. Through flexible scheduling technology, logistics and management systems combined with our deep behavioral health experience, Forefront is able to create solutions that effectively integrate with existing client systems and workflows.

About Spring Lake Equity Partners

Spring Lake Equity Partners is a Boston-based venture capital firm. We partner with management to make later-stage venture/earlier-stage growth equity investments in technology companies with proven products, scalable business models and compelling risk/reward opportunities. Founded in 2013, the four founding partners of Spring Lake have worked together for over 18 years.

Media Contact:
Phil Knudsen
Phone: 510-225-0605
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Forefront Telecare Inc.