The youth mental health crisis is not a future problem. It is happening now — in classrooms, bedrooms, and at dinner tables across the country. 50% of mental health disorders start before age 14. 70% of affected children receive no support at all.
tapouts was built to change that. By delivering live, coach-led virtual group sessions for kids, science-backed and built to be genuinely fun, tapouts fills the critical gap between passive wellness apps and clinical therapy. Since launching in 2023, the platform has reached 200,000+ kids, grown 174% year-over-year, and earned a 72+ NPS from parents who see real change in their children, week after week.
In January 2026, tapouts launched a Wefunder community investment round with one goal: turn the people who believed in tapouts most, the families it served, into co-owners of the company’s future.
The campaign was built on one insight: the most convincing investor pitch we could make wasn’t financial. It was personal.
Mara Wieduwilt, Digital Marketing Specialist, led the campaign from concept through execution. Her starting point was not a financial pitch, it was an emotional story.
The Wefunder page told a story in three acts: the scale of the problem, the proof that tapouts worked, and the invitation to own a piece of what comes next. Rather than lead with terms and valuations, it led with mission, and earned trust before asking for commitment.
The campaign video featured founder George Moringer speaking directly to why tapouts exists and how it works. Personal and founder-led, it gave prospective investors the one thing a financial deck can’t provide: a human being to believe in.
To reach and convert families, we used three channels:
• Email campaigns to existing tapouts families and warm leads, framing the round as a chance to become part of something they already believed in
• A live webinar where tapouts families could ask questions, understand the investment terms, and see the impact of their participation
• A podcast appearance reaching new audiences of health-conscious parents and impact investors
The biggest challenge: making a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) feel accessible to everyday parents, not venture capitalists. We toke away the jargon and replaced it with what parents already understood; the feeling of watching your child thrive.
In its first month, the tapouts Wefunder campaign raised $160,417 from 96 community investors and earned recognition from Wefunder itself as the most raised company of the week.
That platform-level distinction reflected what the campaign was designed to do: not just raise capital, but prove that a community of believers existed and was growing.
The 96 investors who showed up weren’t financial speculators. Some were tapouts families who had seen the platform work firsthand. Others were mission-aligned listeners who discovered tapouts through the podcast and invested before ever trying, believing in our mission.
The broader fundraising round, inclusive of separate Regulation D investment, exceeded $1M total but the Wefunder campaign stood on its own as a testament to what community-first marketing can achieve.
