To Diana Heldfond, founder and CEO of Parallel Learning, a digital platform that provides psychological evaluations for students with learning differences, the mission of her company is personal. At a young age, Heldfond was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD.
“I was lucky enough to have family and teachers who were very aware of what symptoms of these conditions look like and what support I should get,” Heldfond told Built In. “I had the best-case scenario. Unfortunately, the norm is that most students are recognizing these challenges far too late.”
Through its tech-back services, Parallel aims to get students with learning and thinking differences diagnosed sooner while also providing them with tutoring and therapy. On Tuesday, the startup raked a $20 million Series A round led by VC giant Tiger Global to fuel this mission.
“Parallel’s tech-enabled approach is solving the most pressing psychoeducational issues with extreme efficiency, scalability and quality of care,” Jay Chen, a partner at Tiger Global, said in a statement. “By partnering with schools and families to not only assess students but also provide best-in-class ongoing support virtually, Parallel is building an end-to-end digital platform that delivers better outcomes at lower costs.”
With its fresh funds, the startup plans to hire across its engineering, marketing and sales teams. Parallel is currently available in dozens of states and plans to use part of its Series A round to expand into 12 more states this year.
“There’s so much chatter around children’s mental health particularly coming out of Covid, where so many students have been disproportionately challenged because they haven’t been able to be in a classroom,” Heldfond said. “Particularly special education students had a number of services cut off because schools couldn’t even figure out how to put general education online. It’s been really rewarding to see how Parallel has been making an impact, addressing this in a very short time.”
