Healthcare is such a massive space, one that takes up a sixth of the entire U.S. economy, that just one small piece of that pie can be extremely lucrative. Take diabetes, for example, where there have been a slew of different companies tackling that problem, and raising money in the process, including Glooko, Omada Health, Siren and Virta Health.
Another space that has been on the rise for the last few years is mental health and behavioral health, as those topics have been at the forefront of the news cycle, especially with the rash of gun violence plaguing America.
There is a rise of mental illness across the country with one out of five Americans suffering from some sort of mental disorder, whether it’s depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. In the case of depression, it’s become almost an epidemic from from being a rare condition 50 years ago. Critics argue the rise has a lot to do with pathologizing normal psychic and somatic behavior, meaning society’s idea of normal often means never feeling sad or hopeless. Some argue antidepressant drugmakers, who’ve seen their drug usage rise 400 percent in two decades are behind the pathologizing.
Accordingly, the number of companies in this space getting funding has begun to rise in recent years. Growing from 16 in 2013 to 36 in 2015. The number dropped precipitously last year, from 30 in 2016 to just seven in 2017, but already this year we have seen deals such as $40 million for Quartet Health, a platform that brings together primary care and mental health providers.
Save the date! On June 21, Vator and HP will be hosting their latest salon, focused on the rise of these startups and how they are helping patients with their mental health problems. Quartet Health will be joining us!
Here are the companies in this area that have raised the most funding in the past five years, based on data sent to VatorNews from Pitchbook and published by CB Insights. (Note: some of these startups, such as Iora Health, do not specialize in mental/behavioral health but offer it as one of their features or services)
Description: "Recovery Centers of America is fundamentally transforming the treatment of addiction and the capabilities of those in recovery"
Amount Raised: $331.5 million
Investors: Deerfield
Description: "We believe in primary care that puts people first. Because when we can connect on an individual level, we can impact the entire health care landscape."
Amount Raised: $123.3 million
Investors: Temasek Holdings, .406 Ventures, F-Prime Capital Partners, Polaris Partners, Flare Capital Partners, Khosla Ventures, GE Ventures
Description: "Quartet is a technology company improving behavioral health delivery for patients, providers, and payers"
Amount Raised: $92 million
Investors: F-Prime Capital Partners, Deerfield Capital Management, Oak HC/FT, GV, Polaris Partners, Accretive LLC
Description: "Doctor On Demand is a mobile app providing fast and easy access to some of the best doctors, psychologists, and other healthcare providers"
Amount Raised: $86.7 million
Investors: 23andMe, Rock Health, Sherpa Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Tenaya Capital, Shasta Ventures, Rosemark Capital Group, Dignity Health, Jump Capital, Venrock
Description: "US HealthVest is an innovative behavioral healthcare company that has redefined the psychiatric hospital space. De novo strategies and acquisitions of operating facilities with unrealized potential are the core of the US HealthVest business model. Each hospital is structured to offer multiple service lines in order to serve the needs of specific patient population groups."
Amount Raised: $86 million
Investors: Polaris Partners, Oak HC/FT, F-Prime Capital Partners, Richard Kresch, Carl Byers
Description: "Headspace is a digital health platform, providing guided meditation sessions and mindfulness training"
Amount Raised: $75.2 million
Investors: Spectrum Equity, WME, Cash Warren, Advancit Capital, Breyer Capital, Allen & Company, Deerfield, Refactor Capital, Ryan Seacrest
Description: "Akili builds clinically-validated cognitive therapeutics, assessments, and diagnostics that look and feel like video games"
Amount Raised: $72.9 million
Investors: Amgen Ventures, Merck Ventures, Jazz Venture Partners, Canepa Advanced Healthcare Fund, PureTech Health
Description: "Medsphere Systems provides open-source software for the healthcare industry"
Amount Raised: $62.2 million
Investors: NextEquity Partners, Horizon Technology Finance, Thomas Weisel Venture Partners, Azure Capital Partners, EPIC Ventures, Western Technology Investment
Description: "RiverMend Health is a premier provider of scientifically driven, specialty behavioral health services to those suffering from alcohol and drug dependency, dual disorders, eating disorders, obesity and chronic pain."
Amount Raised: $60 million
Investors: Norwest Venture Partners
Description: "Lyra is building a data-driven platform to identify people at risk of behavioral and mental health conditions"
Amount Raised: $83.1 million
Investors: Castlight Health, Venrock, Greylock Partners, Breyer Capital, Origin Capital Management, Providence Health & Services
Description: "AbleTo, Inc. is a market leader in providing technology-enabled behavioral health care"
Amount Raised: $36.6 million
Investors: Bain Capital Ventures, .406 Ventures, Sandbox Industries, HLM Venture Partners, Aetna, Horizon Healthcare Services
Description: "SUN Behavioral Health partners with communities to solve their unmet needs for behavioral health services"
Amount Raised: $34 million
Investors: HealthInvest Equity Partners, NewSpring Capital, Petra Capital Partners, SV Health Investors, LLR Partners
Description: "Ginger.io is a provider of high tech mental healthcare solutions"
Amount Raised: $28.2 million
Investors: True Ventures, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Romulus Capital, Ty Curry, James Joaquin
Description: "Happify is the most established destination for effective, evidence-based solutions for better emotional health & mindfulness on the market"
Amount Raised: $25.5 million
Investors: TT Capital Partners, Mangrove Capital Partners, Bridge Builders Collaborative, Founder Collective, Daniel Gutenberg, TA Ventures
Description: "Vida provides personalized, on-demand health coaching and programs from experienced health care providers and medical institutions"
Amount Raised: $24.3 million
Investors: Canvas Ventures, NGP Capital, Khosla Ventures, The Valley Fund, Aspect Ventures, Slow Ventures, GV, Jesse Draper, Beehive Holdings
Description: "Lantern's personalized programs combine quick daily exercises with professional coaching to strengthen emotional well-being"
Amount Raised: $21.4 million
Investors: Mayfield Fund, Uncork Capital, UPMC, Rothenberg Ventures, Rock Health, TSVC
Description: "Cognoa is a consumer healthcare company that’s changing how parents assess and support their child’s development"
Amount Raised: $20.4 million
Investors: Morningside Group
Description: "MindCare Solutions partners with you to address your most challenging patients by connecting mental health and medical care to treat the whole person. We complement your medical practice with our behavioral model of care through telemedicine"
Amount Raised: $19 million
Investors: Epiphany Health Ventures
Description: "Valant provides a web-based electronic medical record (EMR) system to psychiatrists and other behavioral health professionals"
Amount Raised: $15.1 million
Investors: Agility Capital, Alliance of Angels, TSVC, Lighter Capital
Description: "Thync is a bioelectronics company developing pioneering treatments for autoimmune disorders and mental health"
Amount Raised: $13 million
Investors: Khosla Ventures, Velos Partners
Description: "Welcome to AbsoluteCARE, a comprehensive staff model Patient Centered Ambulatory ICU utilizing innovative Population Health Management tools"
Amount Raised: $12 million
Investors: Undisclosed
Description: "SilverCloud’s solutions are used by payers and providers to provide immediate access to evidence-based and supported digital therapies"
Amount Raised: $10.1 million
Investors: AIB Seed Capital Fund, ACT Venture Capital, B Capital Group, Investec Ventures Ireland Limited, MedTech Innovator, Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund
Description: "Joyable is the leading online solution for overcoming social anxiety"
Amount Raised: $10.1 million
Investors: Thrive Capital, Harrison Metal, Andy Rachleff
Description: "Fruit Street is a telehealth software company that allows for HIPAA compliant video calls and wearable device monitoring"
Amount Raised: $8.9
Investors: Jeremy Tucker, StartUp Health
Description: "Integrated Telemedicine and Telepsychiatry Services to Reduce Mental Health shortages"
Amount Raised: $8.4 million
Investors: OSF Ventures, The Impact Engine, Sandalphon Capital, Furthur Fund, Hyde Park Angels, Service Provider Capital, OCA Ventures, HLM Venture Partners, New Stack Ventures, Mark Agnew
Description: "Real-Time health intervention and wellbeing enhancement at the flick of a wrist"
Amount Raised: $7.5 million
Investors: Digitalis Ventures
Description: "Working with our customers every day to implement physical and mental health programs that change lives is a privilege. Having behavioral scientists, benefits veterans, designers and entertainment writers all in one office? Priceless. We look forward to working with you to improve employee health, one habit at a time."
Amount Raised: $7 million
Investors: Launchpad Digital Health, GP Ventures, Telluride Venture Accelerator, JD Investments, Sodexo Ventures, StartUp Health
(Image source: blog.doctoroz.com)
This will allow DrFirst to accelerate its growth in the specialty medication space
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Steven Loeb
The company initially raised $3 million in seed funding when it launched in October
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Steven Loeb
This is the company's first fundraising since 2019 and brings its total capital to $103M
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Steven Loeb
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
Vida is a mobile, virtual care platform for primary and chronic care that connects consumers to health providers 24/7 for text, audio and video support. Vida's national network of providers cover 20 different conditions. Vida has partnered with Duke and MD Anderson where we are working on clinical studies managing the virtual care of cardiac rehab and cancer patients.
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
Iora Health is restoring humanity to health care by providing a radically different model of primary care built from the ground up. Iora Health’s care model provides extraordinary service to patients to ensure improved health outcomes while also lowering overall plan costs. Our patients enjoy the benefits of better access to care, office and non-office based encounters (e.g. phone, text messages, and email), an accessible and transparent medical record, and robust educational offerings. Our practices, across the U.S., enjoy the benefits of smaller sizes, closer relationships with patients, and the opportunity to lead systemic change in health care delivery while working with a true team. For more information, please visit http://www.iorahealth.com.
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
Joyable aspires to free the world of anxiety and depression. Today, it is the leading online program for overcoming social anxiety, a treatable condition that affects more than 15 million Americans. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 85 percent of sufferers are not receiving minimally adequate treatment, often because no local help is available or because this type of anxiety is a barrier to seeing a therapist in person. Joyable provides an effective and affordable online solution for overcoming social anxiety, based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) combined with expert coaching to ensure clients are supported and encouraged to achieve their goals. Learn more about Joyable or take our Social Anxiety Test at www.joyable.com.
