Being a founder is not an easy journey.
James Oliver who is currently behind Kabila, a company connecting underserved founders to co-founders, capital, and community, had his fair share of challenges prior to the venture. In fact, his first startup, WeMontage, failed while he was also navigating the early days of fatherhood — his twin children were born prematurely at just two pounds each via an emergency C-section. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, some of his difficulties were launching his company as a non-technical founder creating software.
Two days after his children’s births, he had to attend an accelerator, led by gener8tor, which was a two-hour drive from where he lived in northeast Wisconsin. Ahead of a presentation on demo day, Oliver was greeted by an angel investor group, and they were willing to invest $250,000.
“I dropped to my knees and thanked God because everything I was going through at that time was really hard. So that was my introduction to being a parent and entrepreneurship,” Oliver told AFROTECH™ in an interview. “And after that, things just got more intense and harder, and in some ways we raised just enough money to fail even though we created this brilliant product. And so I was like grinding forever to keep it going, and eventually it failed. But my mental health deteriorated so much and at that time I was not getting the mental support, the mental therapy I needed to do better.”
In hindsight, he pondered if the outcome would have been different with proper support such as speaking to a therapist regularly. While Oliver can’t go back in time to change the fate of his first startup, he says he can help to steer founders with the resources he once lacked to improve their mental wellbeing. In fact, a study shows that 72% of founders admit entrepreneurship has impacted their mental health and 37% experience anxiety, according to Forbes.
The Investment
To assist founders, Oliver launched the Kabila Founder Mental Health Fund, a “non-profit fiscally sponsored by the Social Good Fund,” his LinkedIn states. It received a $25,000 seed grant from Techstars Co-Founder Brad Feld that is funding four mental therapy sessions through the BetterHelp virtual platform — or through the recipient’s own therapist — for founders within the Kabila network or its broader ecosystem.
The grants have been named The Carmen Reid Founder Mental Therapy Grants in honor of Oliver’s late grandmother, a Panama immigrant, single mother, and seamstress who passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage as a result of stress before he was born.
“As someone who has been open about my own mental health struggles, I know firsthand how critical it is for founders to have access to support during the most challenging times,” Feld said in a statement shared with AFROTECH™. “That’s why I’m proud to back the Kabila Founder Mental Health Fund. I’ve had the privilege of supporting James over the years, and I deeply admire his commitment to breaking down barriers and making mental health care accessible to founders who need it most. This fund is a vital step toward building a healthier, more resilient entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
At the time of this writing, four grants have been dispersed, and the aim is to reach 50 founders over a one-year period.
To qualify, individuals must be U.S.-based startup founders in the Kabila network who are unable to afford therapy.
