Australian entrepreneur Zac Altman has raised $3.5 million in seed funding for Kantoko, a venture addressing ADHD assessment and treatment. Side Stage Ventures led the round, with backing from Andrew Forrest's Tenmile and Go1 founders Vu Tran and Andrew Barnes. Altman, who previously sold traveltech startup LoungeBuddy to American Express, founded Kantoko in 2023 after experiencing frustrations with Australia's ADHD treatment system. The platform offers telehealth assessments and long-term treatment for $100 monthly, aiming to reduce costs and improve access for rural Australians. UNSW data shows ADHD prescription numbers have increased over 600% since 2017. The funding will expand Kantoko's clinician roster and software capabilities. "Hundreds of thousands of adults wait years for a diagnosis, at real cost to themselves, their families and the economy," said Tenmile managing director Steve Burnell.

Two-time exited founder Zac Altman raises $3.5m to tackle Australia's ADHD care gap with Kantoko. By Business News Australia 13 August 2026 Zac Altman, CEO and founder of Kantoko Sydney-based online ADHD care platform Kantoko has raised $3.5 million in an oversubscribed seed round to expand its clinical network and accelerate platform development, as the startup targets what it describes as a systemic failure in diagnosing and treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Australia. The round was co-led by Side Stage Ventures and Tenmile, the health-tech venture capital firm backed by Andrew Forrest's Tattarang, and supported by angel investors including the founders of Brisbane-based e-learning unicorn Go1. Kantoko was founded in 2023 by Zac Altman, a two-time exited entrepreneur who previously co-founded airport lounge marketplace LoungeBuddy, which was acquired by American Express in 2019. Kantoko is personal for Altman, who spent more than a decade in Silicon Valley and was re-diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, an experience he credits with sparking the company's mission after his return to Australia. "I had no choice but to build this company," says Altman, the CEO of Kantoko. "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 Kantoko platform connects patients with a dedicated clinical team that provides diagnosis, treatment and ongoing management through a single integrated service. Research suggests up to 85 per cent of adults with ADHD globally remain undiagnosed or untreated, with about 75 per cent of Australian adults with the condition lacking a formal diagnosis. Data published by UNSW Sydney in April showed a sharp rise in adult ADHD medication use in Australia, underscoring growing demand for diagnostic and treatment services. Kantoko says it is already serving thousands of patients, with 60 per cent of its patient base comprised of women and about 20 per cent drawn from regional and rural communities - demographics that have historically faced the steepest barriers to accessing specialist care. The platform charges $200 for the first month and $100 per month on an ongoing basis, positioning the product as an accessible alternative to a system characterised by lengthy waiting lists and disjointed care pathways. Ben Grabiner, founding partner at Side Stage Ventures, says the firm views ADHD care as one of the largest unaddressed opportunities in the health sector. "One in twenty people worldwide live with ADHD, and scaling high-quality care for them is one of the biggest unsolved problems in health," he says. "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." Side Stage Ventures typically invests up to $1.5 million per deal at pre-seed or seed stage, targeting founders it identifies as having strong product capability and market insight. Tenmile managing director Dr Steve Burnell says the economic and social cost of leaving ADHD undiagnosed at scale demands a new approach. "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," says Burnell, a former executive of biotech giant Roche Group. "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." Tenmile was established after Forrest committed $250 million in 2022 to fast-track the commercialisation of life-changing health technologies through his private investment company Tattarang. The $3.5 million raised by Kantoko will expand the startup's clinical network, accelerate development of its purpose-built care platform and bring high-quality ADHD care to more adults. "ADHD is where the access gap is widest, so it's where we started," says Altman. "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." Business News Australia Australia's business news. Free. Always. Join thousands of founders, investors and executives who read Business News Australia every morning. No paid subscriptions, just free. Unsubscribe anytime. Partner Content