Tulane Ventures Invests $250K in Cabana, Bringing Behavioral Health Company to New Orleans

Heather Townsend and David Black, Cabana co-founders

August 25, 2026

Tulane Ventures has invested $250,000 in Cabana, a behavioral health platform co-founded by a Tulane alumnus, as part of a $1M seed round that also includes 1834 Ventures.

Cabana is an excellent example of what Tulane Ventures was created to do: support companies that are addressing health challenges in our state and world, create jobs in Louisiana, and encourage Tulane alumni to establish their companies in our community," said Kimberly Gramm, managing director of Tulane Ventures.

This funding has enabled Cabana to move its headquarters to New Orleans, begin building out a clinical team based in the state, and launch Cabana Connected Care™, a solution that helps providers and health systems in Louisiana integrate behavioral health support between patient appointments.

Cabana was founded by David Black, a 2005 graduate of Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business, and Heather Townsend, who met Black in graduate school. The idea took shape after Black watched his father and their family struggle through his father's battle with late-stage cancer. That experience led Black to two realizations: behavioral health needs to run alongside the hardest care moments we face, even for those who aren't the patient, and not everyone is ready for therapy - people have to be met where they are. Black and Townsend began their work with an award from the Air Force in 2020, building Cabana locally in New Orleans alongside Ochsner Health's Office of Professional Wellbeing team.

"We see behavioral health challenges as a dimension of many healthcare experiences, not just as its own service line," Black said. "We're weaving behavioral health support into the moments between care experiences - and we're leading this innovation in Louisiana, with Louisiana patients and alongside Louisiana clinicians. Louisiana will show the country what the future of integrated behavioral health support should look like."

That local approach is central to how Black frames the new investment. "New Orleans means so much to me, and I have a lot of Tulane pride. I am excited to make an impact locally and across Louisiana as Cabana scales," Black said. "What Louisiana Economic Development (LED), Tulane Ventures and 1834 Ventures are doing with this State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funding is exciting and unique. The support startups can receive in Louisiana right now is palpable, from funding to connections; everyone wants to help you succeed."

Cabana combines clinical care, community groups, and tech-enabled support to embed behavioral health support into people's lives - outside of medical appointments. The company offers three core services.

Cabana Live provides daily, anonymous, telehealth group sessions, including grief counseling, relationship support, chronic illness, veteran transition, cancer management, and sober-curious tracks. Therapist- and coach-led groups, Black said, provide support in the moment and remind us that we're not alone.

Cabana Connected Care embeds a care manager and psychiatrist directly with physician offices, adding a team-based mental health support layer on top of current office visits rather than referring a patient out for a separate appointment. For example, if a pregnant patient mentions anxiety during a routine visit, a Cabana care manager can talk with her during that same appointment while a psychiatrist reviews her case behind the scenes and guides her OB on treatment, all without requiring a separate appointment, a long wait or a new provider. The service can be billed through existing codes, creating efficiency alongside the expanded care.

Cabana Pod places physical, private pods inside clinics, hospitals and workplaces so patients or employees can access care on-site. The pods have been piloted at eight locations across Louisiana.

Cabana has served 15,000 individuals and hosted 4,000 groups, with 86% of patients getting same-day care. The company partners with health plans including Johns Hopkins Health Plan and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, health systems including Ochsner Health and AdventHealth, and government agencies including the National Guard Bureau and the Virginia Department of Veteran Services.

Cabana also recently launched a partnership with Walmart's Better Care Services, a program that connects customers with affordable and accessible support. Cabana Live is available through Walmart for less than $20 a month. The new funding will allow Cabana to grow its current staff of 27 and expand its Connected Care model.

Black hopes Cabana will become a standard part of care for people facing a new diagnosis, a difficult prognosis, or the strain of caring for a loved one through illness - helping more patients access affordable support, including through insurance with no copay. With the new funding, Cabana plans to grow its clinical team in Louisiana, expand Cabana Connected Care to more health systems in the state, and partner with Louisiana universities to help train and recruit a pipeline of licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs) - including providing clinical supervision hours for recent graduates - to help build out the state's behavioral health workforce.