Sydney-founded ADHD care platform Kantoko has announced an oversubscribed $3.5 million seed funding round, led by Side Stage Ventures and Tenmile with participation from angel investors including the founders of Go1.
Founded in 2023 by CEO Zac Altman, a two-time founder whose most recent company, LoungeBuddy, was acquired by American Express, Kantoko gives Australians a clinical-grade pathway to long-term ADHD assessment, treatment and support through a purpose-built platform.
Mr Altman said that in Australia, 75 per cent of adults with ADHD lacked a diagnosis, which he said marked a “systemic shortfall,” felt most acutely by women and rural residents.
He said Kantoko was “actively closing this access gap,” with women making up 60 per cent of its patient base – with nearly half aged between 25 and 44 and almost one in five patients living in a small, rural or remote community.
However, Mr Altman noted that for those who do receive a diagnosis, the path to ongoing care was “typically defined by long wait times, high upfront costs and fragmented support after patients’ initial appointment.”
“Kantoko was built to remove this structural friction and close the gap between clinical demand and accessible care,” Mr Altman said.
“I had no choice but to build this company. I went through re-diagnosis as an adult and saw how broken the system is at every step. Nobody should have to fight that hard for care that changes their life, so we built the system that should have existed all along.”
The new capital would expand Kantoko’s clinical network, accelerate development of its purpose-built care platform and bring high-quality ADHD care to more adults – while maintaining “diagnostic rigour and clinical integrity.”
“ADHD is where the access gap is widest, so it’s where we started. But what we’ve built, continuous GP-led care designed around the patient rather than the waiting room, is how chronic conditions should be managed everywhere. This funding scales the reach of that care – and it’s just the beginning,” Mr Altman said.
Side Stage Ventures Founding Partner Ben Grabiner, said “One in twenty people worldwide live with ADHD, and scaling high-quality care for them is one of the biggest unsolved problems in health.”
“We’re excited to back Zac – a deeply experienced entrepreneur on a personal mission to fix a broken system and transform how ADHD care is delivered.”
Tenmile Managing Director Dr Steve Burnell, said “Neurological and mental health is a large and growing unmet need, and adult ADHD is one of the most under-recognised drivers of lost productivity in Australia. Hundreds of thousands of adults wait years for a diagnosis, at real cost to themselves, their families and the economy.”
“We’re proud to back Kantoko’s innovative approach which targets some of the greatest barriers in this space, including chronic under-diagnosis, scarcity of timely clinical assessment, and providing accessible, ongoing quality clinical care.”
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