Fireroad Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, today announced its investment in DifferentKind, a Buena Vista, CO startup revolutionizing patient experience measurement in the dental care industry.

DifferentKind, founded by Drs. Matt Allen and Carolyn Brown, addresses a critical gap in the dental care sector: the lack of evidence-based patient experience measurements.

Today, the status quo for dental practices is to measure net promoter scores and monitor public website reviews. This approach, however, fails to provide insights that are connected to patient outcomes and often leaving practices hamstrung in their responses to dissatisfied patients who air grievances publicly, due to patient privacy regulations.

By leveraging evidence-based indicators, DifferentKind offers dental practices unprecedented insights into patient satisfaction, treatment efficacy, and ultimately operational efficiency. The company's platform increases patient survey response rates by 50%, provides dental practices with actionable insights to improve patient outcomes and overall practice performance, and reduces negative online reviews by 80%.

"Both Drs. Allen and Brown have clinical experience, extensive research background, and decades of leadership in the industry." said Christy Johnson, Partner at Fireroad Ventures. “They are the team to lead this transformation in dental care which will impact both patient and employee outcomes significantly."

"This investment from Fireroad Ventures validates our mission and approach," said Matt Allen, CEO of DifferentKind. "We're poised to accelerate our growth through partnerships with payers and continue raising the bar for patient experience in dental care."

The funding will support the group’s work with dental payers. As the dental industry continues to follow in the footsteps of healthcare, DifferentKind is well-positioned to offer providers more reimbursement opportunities and provide payers with trustworthy data they need for compliance and reporting. On the heels of participating in the SMILE Health Accelerator program by CareQuest Innovation Partners, the team has stood up pilot programs with multiple dental payers across the country.

DifferentKind is the fifteenth investment from Fireroad Ventures, which launched in 2023 to bring a founder-first approach to the midwest. Both firms are motivated by the opportunity to build a technology company that serves an industry comprised of small businesses in every corner of the world, where humans are involved in the core value-creation today and will be well into the future.

‍About Fireroad Ventures
‍Fireroad Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Cincinnati, OH. Along with equity investments, Fireroad Ventures offers unique support for holistic founder flourishing to their portfolio companies and a platform uniquely designed to add out-sized value to service-sector technology leaders.

‍About DifferentKind
‍DifferentKind is the dental patient experience and outcomes leader, producing data and insights that drive improved oral health outcomes for patients, practices, and payers. Founded by a team with extensive experience in dental practice operations and data analytics, DifferentKind is on a mission to give dental practices the insights they need to measurably improve outcomes and experiences for patients and employees.