Behind every smile is a soul touched by suffering. A childhood untended, the spectre of addiction, memories of conflict, hidden violations. These people are around us – and they are us.
We were hurting, and we set off on a personal search for healing and meaning, from the conventional to the esoteric. The more people we encountered – patients, doctors, scientists, healers, teachers, students, the young, the old – the more we saw the interconnectedness of mind, body and spirit in creating a state of wellness.
We believe that one day, science will be so precise that we can predict exactly why, how, and when a person may experience a depressive episode or become suicidal, and that we will have the power to help them before they ask for help. What's happening in their neurobiology? What is the role of genetics, diet, social bonds, sleep, the physical environment? How are we affected by our ancestry, gender, and socioeconomic status? With knowledge, we believe that, in our lifetime, we can move from treating the symptoms of mental illness to curing and preventing them to thriving as whole, healthy humans.
We’re not there yet. Since the discovery of lithium for bipolar mania and SSRIs for mood disorders, new treatments have been few and far between, while mental illness is growing at an alarming rate, especially among our youth. Why?
We root our thinking in our core pillars of science, efficacy, efficiency, defensibility and scalability – SEEDS. With this foundation, we seek out those visionary innovators who dare to question paradigms and see new paths forward, carving them across novel therapeutics, digital wellness, devices, wearables and more. We partner at all stages and love to support our founders closely, striving for relationships of transparency and collaboration. They are obsessed with solving the problem because they know it firsthand, having been patients, caretakers, clinicians, researchers.
Our team is the same. As former founders and operators, we know what it feels like to sail uncharted waters and come out the other side. We are small but mighty, diversely skilled but unified by our shared vision of a healthier humanity. Likewise, as fiduciaries, we are blessed to work for limited partners who believe in the power of marrying impact with profit, and who trust that our investment focus, skilled team, deep networks and unwavering commitment to mental health will bear fruit at scale.
This is Noetic.