Override, a stealth startup addressing chronic pain, has announced a $3.5 million seed funding round co-led by 7wireVentures and Tennessee’s Martin Ventures. Other investors included San Francisco-based SignalFire and Kentucky’s Confluent Health, a physical therapy provider.
Founded by former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. David Shulkin and his daughter Jennie Shulkin, who has a “lived experience” of fighting chronic pain, Override also announced its acquisition of Take Courage Coaching, a Utah firm that provides counselling for chronic pain.
Jennie Shulkin, a Harvard law graduate, slipped into chronic, complex pain syndrome after suffering two head injuries within a year-and-a-half. “Override exists to serve” people “like me who are told they’re out of options, forgotten about, and thrown away as too complex,” said Jennie, who serves as the firm’s CEO.
VA Model
Lee Shapiro, the Chicago-based venture firm’s managing partner and Override board member, said his firm often supports founders whose lived experiences fuel their passion to change how healthcare is delivered. “Jennie’s learnings, and those witnessed by her father, Dr. David Shulkin, during his tenure leading the VA, have informed Override’s integrated, interdisciplinary care model,” he added.
Dr. Shulkin ran Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey, before holding senior positions in the US Department of Veterans Affairs under the Obama and Trump administrations. He is crediting with designing a program called “Whole Health,” in large part to reduce veterans’ reliance on opioids.
“With our Whole Health model of care at the VA, we ignited an important evolution from a ‘find it, fix it’ mindset to a holistic and personalized standard of care,” said Dr. Shulkin. “After witnessing a 300% reduction in opioid use and significant improvements in pain, function, and satisfaction with care across more than 200,000 veterans, I knew we needed to bring our learnings from Whole Health to a virtual platform that could scale across the country.”
Commercial Real Estate
MacKenzie Companies
Advertising / Media / Communications / Public Relations
Nevins & Associates
Financial Services / Investment Firms
Chesapeake Corporate Advisors
Commercial Real Estate
Monday Properties
Venture Capital
Blue Delta Capital Partners
Internet / Technology
Foxtrot Media
Look Ma, No Opioids
Override has used advanced brain research to build a virtual, holistic treatment plan that avoids use of addictive opioids, as it targets an estimated 50 million American adults who suffer from chronic pain. Its approach is to “connect patients with a team of pain specialists that includes a doctor, physical therapist, psychologist or social worker, and coach who help patients create goals,” Dr Shulkin told Insider in an interview. It ultimately wants to teach patients to actively manage their own conditions and improve their function and lives, he added.
Initially, Override has worked directly with patients, as it builds a full, interdisciplinary model with employer and health system partners. Patients can purchase individual appointments with an Override pain physician, physical therapist, psychologist, and coach, or opt for a more intensive monthly bundle. Ahead of 2023, Override is offering a comprehensive pain program to 23 people at $23 per month for six months.
