Coro Health Secures $2 Million To Expand Its Web-based Music Therapy Services

“And now for something different” read the subject line of the email sent by a representative of Austin-based startup Coro Health. And then some. The fledgling company has just raised $2 million in Series A funding to bring Web-based music therapies to patients in long-term care facilities.

Yes, you read that right. Coro Health’s audio platform delivers individual music prescriptions, spirituality and other media to residents in said facilities with “minimal cost and maximum efficiency”, in an effort to improve their health by music’s oft-lauded therapeutic effects.

Here’s how that works, in their words:

Coro Health’s technology adapts to the resident and can deliver content anywhere throughout a facility. The system provides customizable audio hardware for all levels of patient needs including speakers, pillow speakers, headphones and adjustable volume control, and can play content according to a pre-determined schedule or on-demand as needed for therapeutic purposes.

Automated updates keep the media current and appealing, while caregivers can easily adjust content, times and delivery location (individual or group areas), or provide feedback directly to a resident’s therapist to make modifications as needs and situations change. Prescriptions are developed by a team of board-certified music therapists and music and media designers with content tailored to an individual’s schedule, needs and preferences, in conjunction with their existing plan of care.

Rates vary based on programming, generally ranging from $15 to $60 a month.

The company says its solution is currently installed in facilities across the U.S., representing more than 1,000 residents, and has been entered into clinical trials at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain to study the therapeutic benefits of music on Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.

Coro Health was founded by entrepreneur David Schofman, former founder of FrogTrader (which was acquired by Callaway Golf in 2004) and comes backed by Bob Martin, former CEO of Walmart International, Kent Lance of HPI Austin and other angel investors.