Melbourne health tech startup, MoreGoodDays raised $3.5 million for a digital solution for managing chronic pain.

The round was led by Blackbird, with support from impact fund Giant Leap, Side Stage Ventures, the Snow Foundation and LaunchVic’s female-focused sidecar investment program, the Alice Anderson Fund.

Neala Fulia and Helena Ngo are co-founders of the healthtech platform to help Australians suffering from severe pain through a digital home program with personal guidance by therapists.

Fulia co-founded MoreGoodDays after watching her father struggle with unexplained chronic pain to offer pain management strategies based on neuroscience and psychology.

“Imagine living in pain every day. Some days are worse than others and you have no control over them. You can’t find an explanation for the pain, despite several visits to your doctor,” said Fulia.

“It hurts to do even the simplest things, like wash the dishes. You say no when you’re invited and before you know it you’re falling into a depression, making the pain worse This is not unusual for someone living with chronic pain. And it’s a reality for nearly 4 million Australians. Even worse, options for managing their pain are limited and very expensive.

The This is reported by the World Health Organization that more than 1.5 billion people – a fifth of the population – live with chronic pain.

Chronic pain management is costing Australia $144 billion a yearand the global pain management solutions market is expected to grow $162 billion by 2030.

The MoreGoodDays program offers affordable and accessible treatment with no waiting lists, starting with fibromyalgiaa condition that affects more than 1 million Australians.

Throughout the 12-week program, clients receive personalized guidance from a coach and learn science-based strategies that have proved useful for hundreds of users

Following a successful 5-month pilot program with 70% of patients reporting overall improvement, Helena Ngo said they plan to broaden their focus and use the increase to develop a new solution for chronic pain in the first half of this year. launch.

“The gold standard of pain management combines both brain and body approaches through psychology with physical therapy and occupational therapists,” she said.

“It is usually a 12-week program run in hospitals that costs the average person more than double their monthly salary. This gold standard is unsurprisingly the last resort for the average Australian as it is expensive and waiting lists are up to 2 years long.”

Blackbird partner Samantha Wong said Fulia understood the importance of the “democratization of healthcare”. as a caregiver to a family member with chronic pain and a former health innovation executive.

“We first got to know her through the Startmate Founders Fellowship, then our Giants program, and we are proud to welcome her and Helena to the Blackbird portfolio as they help thousands of chronic pain patients have more good days in their lives .”

Giant Leap partner Adam Milgrom said: “wWe’ve seen digital therapies like MoreGoodDays deliver incredible improvements to patient outcomes while reducing healthcare costs. Not only do they change individual lives for the better, but they free up the healthcare system to focus on other things.”

Dr. LaunchVic CEO Kate Cornick said the $3.5 million fundraiser was an “incredible endorsement of Neala and Helena as entrepreneurs and their deep commitment to improving the lives of people with chronic pain.”