CPE News Brief (10.6.2022) – Layla Care has obtained funding from BDC Capital’s Growth and Transition Capital, Government of Canada’s Southern Ontario Fund for Investment in Innovation (SOFII), via the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), delivered by Community Futures Eastern Ontario (CFEO).
New debt and grant funding will allow it to expand its service offerings and scale across Canada.
Founded by Samer Abughannam, Layla Care is a human-first, tech-powered mental healthcare service. Layla Care’s range of mental healthcare services today include facilitating individual therapy, couples counseling, group programs, and assessment and treatment services for vocational mental health.
photo credit: Layla Care
News Release
Layla raises funds from BDC and SOFII to grow personalized mental healthcare services
TORONTO, Oct. 6, 2022 /CNW/ – Layla, a human-first, tech-powered mental healthcare service, receives funding from BDC Capital’s Growth and Transition Capital division and from the Government of Canada’s Southern Ontario Fund for Investment in Innovation (SOFII), via the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), delivered by Community Futures Eastern Ontario (CFEO), allowing it to expand its service offerings and scale across Canada.
Driven by the mission to empower Canadians to take control of their mental health, Layla helps clients find the right therapist or program for them through a warm and dependable process, rooted in personalization and inclusion. Since its inception in 2019, the company has guided thousands of Canadians on their journey to better mental health, and facilitated more than 50,000 therapy sessions. Layla’s range of mental healthcare services today include facilitating individual therapy, couples counseling, group programs, and assessment and treatment services for vocational mental health.
Layla Care is committed to making mental healthcare more human, hopeful, and personalized.
Layla Founder and CEO, Samer Abughannam shared, “Since starting our journey, we have been committed to making mental healthcare more human, hopeful, and personalized. With the support of BDC and SOFII, we will grow our presence and invest in program and platform development. In a sector where demand is exceeding clinical capacity, we strive to promote earlier intervention and care collaboration so that Canadians today and in the future can live healthier.”
The investment is in the form of non-dilutive financing tailored to high growth ventures. It follows an initial, smaller investment provided by BDC to Layla in 2021. The process was led by Kyle Feucht, Director Growth & Transition Capital at BDC Capital in Toronto, and Michelle Cathers, SOFII Program Manager at Community Futures Eastern Ontario.
“Layla’s passionate and diverse team brings together unique strengths allowing them to rapidly scale the company and do so with excellent patient outcomes,” said Feucht. “BDC Capital is pleased to continue to support Layla and the important mental healthcare services it provides.”
“Our Government remains committed to investing in small and medium-sized enterprises in rural and urban communities from coast to coast to coast. Through the Southern Ontario Fund for Investment in Innovation (SOFII) loan program, companies like Layla are able to secure the funding and tools they need to grow and be successful” says the Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
With a team of more than 30 employees and a community of more than 150 therapists, Layla currently operates in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia with plans to expand into other provinces and territories. Looking ahead, the team is planning to continue to grow its therapist community with a geographical expansion strategy to serve more regions in Canada. Layla is making a public effort to normalize groups and close the gap for high needs areas such as eating disorders and dialectical behavioural therapy, all while continuing to learn about different client populations and needs. Layla continues to partner with various actors in the health system and across Canadian communities to improve access to services, quality of care, and early intervention.
About Layla
Layla’s mission is to empower people to take control of their mental health. We use patient-centric innovation to understand and address gaps in the ever-changing realities in the mental health space. Layla’s range of mental healthcare services today include facilitating individual therapy, couples counseling, group programs, and assessment and treatment services for vocational mental health. Learn more at www.layla.care
About BDC Capital
BDC Capital is the investment arm of BDC, the bank for Canadian entrepreneurs. With over $3 billion under management, BDC Capital serves as a strategic partner to the country’s most innovative firms. It offers businesses a full spectrum of capital, from seed investments to growth equity, supporting Canadian entrepreneurs who have the ambition to stand out on the world stage. Visit www.bdc.ca/capital
About SOFII
The Southern Ontario Fund for Investment in Innovation (SOFII) loan program supports scale-up of high-growth, innovative Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in rural and urban communities by offering loans of $150,000 to $500,000 (additional funding available on an exception basis). SOFII provides interest-bearing business loans to help innovation and growth in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the region.
Launched by the Government of Canada in July 2012, SOFII is supported through FedDev Ontario and is delivered by Community Futures Eastern Ontario and Community Futures Western Ontario.
About FedDev Ontario
For 13 years, the Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation, growth and job creation in Canada’s most populous region. The Agency has delivered impressive results, which can be seen in southern Ontario businesses that are creating innovative technologies, improving productivity, growing revenues, creating jobs, and in the economic advancement of communities across the region. Learn more about the impacts the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our pivotal projects, our Southern Ontario Spotlight, and FedDev Ontario’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
SOURCE Layla Care
For further information: Charan Litt, community@layla.care