SonderMind acquires predictive analytics platform Qntfy to deliver personalized mental health care

SonderMind matches patients and clinicians, while also giving them insights into their patients

One of the most exciting developments in healthcare has been the move toward personalization, both through genomics, but also through the influx of patient-centric data. Combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning, all stakeholders in the healthcare space, from clinicians to insurance companies, can gain a greater understanding of that patient and their specific needs, and how to treat them in the most efficient, and cost-effective, manner.

SonderMind is a company on a mission to bring those insights into the mental health space, not only using data to match therapists and patients, but to give the therapists information about how their clients are doing so they can improve care and patient mental health outcomes.

On Monday, the company took a big step in that direction when it announced the acquisition of predictive analytics platform Qntfy, a company that gathered mental health and biometric data from health applications and trackers, wearables, and other devices, and analyzed it in order to help identify treatment recommendations through machine learning. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

"For the past seven years, Qntfy used machine learning, artificial intelligence, and empathetic design to make complex psychological behavioral data accessible, scalable, and actionable for individuals and organizations. SonderMind, whose mission it is to improve access, utilization and outcomes in the mental health care space, have been pursuing the same mission using entirely complementary means," the Qntfy team wrote in a note on its homepage on Monday.

"While Qntfy built the technology needed to fundamentally shift the paradigm in the healthcare system, SonderMind has been redesigning the system to increase access and speed by which people get the right care for their needs."

Founded in 2015, Qntfy's products included the Cohort Analytics Platform, through which it provided its client's marketing teams with insight and intelligence about their customers and intended audiences, as well as OurDataHelps, which assisted data scientists with understanding suicide and mental illness. It also had a product called Quinn, which acted as a personal wellness AI, helping users understand and make small changes to improve their lives, and its Scalable Analytics Platform, which provided behavioral analytics in near-realtime. 

"Qntfy brings its predictive analytics platform to SonderMind's platform, bridging the gap between data science and human behavior. Qntfy's machine-learning capabilities can help analyze and interpret data to empower our providers, to ensure our clients are getting the personalized needed, so they can get better, faster," Mark Frank, co-founder and chief executive officer of SonderMind, told VatorNews.

"SonderMind and Qntfy share the same mission: to get people the help they need, so they can get better, faster. Qntfy's enhanced data learning capabilities combined with SonderMind's clinically-effective tools helps our providers deliver personalized care to their clients, ultimately providing better health outcomes."

Going forward, Qntfy will become the Data Science division within SonderMind, while Glen Coppersmith, Qntfy’s founder, will be joining the company as its Chief Data Officer. 

"Glen is a recognized leader in mental health and data science, and brings with him a team of researchers, data scientists, and engineers who will augment SonderMind’s arsenal of clinically effective tools. Qntfy’s technology and team allows SonderMind to better facilitate the individual and personalized mental health journey of each client and allows the SonderMind providers to focus more specifically and directly on improving the outcomes for those clients," said Frank.

Founded in 2014, the SonderMind platform matches clients and therapists based on criteria such as specialty, availability, location, treatment approaches and insurance. Matches typically happen within in one or two days; after that, it usually takes another day or two for the therapist to reach out to schedule an appointment. That means, in total, a patient will be matched and scheduled in less than a week.

Once it has matched the clinician and patient, SonderMind offers them tools to deliver better care for their clients including payments, telehealth, and clinical assessments.

This is not SonderMind's first acquisition: the company previously bought Uvize, a provider of mentorship software for organizations to accelerate and improve connections between mentors and proteges, in 2016.

(Image source: qntfy.com)