Mental health problems, especially in young people, have been on the rise for a while now: a CDC report found that, in 2019, more than 1 in 3 high school students said they had experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the year prior that they couldn’t participate in their regular activities, a 40% increase from 10 years earlier.
Of course, since 2019 there has been a global pandemic that has made all of that even worse. According to a report from the Surgeon General, depressive and anxiety symptoms among young people doubled during the pandemic, with 25% experiencing depressive symptoms and 20% experiencing anxiety symptoms.
With all of that happening, perhaps it's not a surprise that funding for mental health startups has exploded as well; mental health has been the most funded subspecialty since at least 2017, and remained such in 2021, but the actual amount of funding now going into these companies is staggering: they raised a collective $5.1 billion in 2021, an 88% percent from the $2.7 billion in 2020.
To put that into perspective, the next two largest subspecialties were diabetes care and cardiovascular, both of which raised $1.8 billion, or just 35% of what the mental health space took in.
Mental healthcare has been mainstream for a while, but now it's become one perhaps the hottest sector in healthcare.
Here are some of the mental health companies that picked up funding in 2021, in order of how much they raised:
Description: "Help for anxiety, depression, insomnia, and ADHD. Online prescriber visits, care counseling, and prescriptions delivered to your door."
Amount raised: $127 million; $300 million
Investors: Access Industries, WestCap, Silver Lake Waterman, Artis Ventures, Bill Ackman, Oak HC/FT, Chris Burch, AirAngels, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Prysm Capital, WestCap Group
Total funding: $462 million
Description: "The BetterUp experience brings together world-class coaching, AI technology, and behavioral science experts to deliver change at scale — improving individual resilience, adaptability, and effectiveness. The results? People living more meaningful, vibrant lives with greater clarity, purpose, and passion."
Amount raised: $125 million; $300 million
Investors: ICONIQ Growth, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Threshold Ventures, Plus Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Wellington Management, Morningside Group, SV Angel, PLUS Capital
Total funding: $600 million
Lyra Health
Description: "Lyra is transforming mental health care using intelligent matching technology, concierge support, and an innovative digital platform to deliver a frictionless experience for members, providers, and employers."
Description:
Amount raised: $187 million; $200 million
Investors: Addition, Durable Capital Partners LP, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Coatue, Sands Capital
Total funding: $910.1 million
Spring Health
Description: "We combine clinically-proven technology with high-touch care navigation to deliver the right care at the right time—whether that's a meditation program, therapy, or more."
Amount raised: $190 million
Investors: Kinnevik, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, Tiger Global, Northzone, RRE Ventures, Rethink Impact, Work-Bench, William K Warren Foundation, SemperVirens, Able Partners, True Capital Ventures
Total funding: $300 million
SonderMind
Description: "SonderMind is on a mission to redesign behavioral healthcare to become more accessible, approachable, and utilized."
Amount raised: $150 million
Investors: Drive Capital, Premji Invest. General Catalyst, Partners Group, Smash Ventures, Kickstart Fund, F-Prime Capital, Founders Circle Capital, Zoma Foundation, FCA Venture Partners
Total funding: $183 million
WorkIt Health
Description: "Workit Health is the industry-leading provider of clinically proven telemedicine treatment for substance use disorder, offering online therapy, medication-assisted treatment, psychiatric support, and primary care via the Workit Health mobile app."
Amount raised: $118 million
Investors: Insight Partners, CVS Health Ventures, FirstMark Capital, BCBS Venture Fund, 3L Capital
Total funding: $138 million
Vida Health
Description: "From diabetes to depression, sleep to stress and just about everything in between, our platform treats the whole person — and a whole population — by bringing together the best of technology and the human touch of therapists and coaches."
Amount raised: $110 million
Investors: General Atlantic, Centene, AXA Venture Partners, Ardea Partners, Ally Bridge Group, AME Cloud Ventures, Aspect Ventures, Canvas Ventures, Guidewell, NGP Capital, Workday Ventures
Total funding: $188 million
Ginger (before it merged with Headspace to become Headspace Health)
Description: "On-demand mental health support, day or night. Chat with a trained behavioral health coach within seconds, and meet with a licensed therapist or psychiatrist via video within hours."
Amount raised: $100 million
Investors: Blackstone Growth
Total funding: $220.7 million 
Woebot Health
Description: "Meet Woebot, your personal mental health ally that helps you get back to feeling like yourself. Grounded in clinical research and powered by AI, Woebot is easy to talk to and fits right into your life, whenever you want to chat. There’s no such thing as appointments or waiting rooms here."
Amount raised: $90 million
Investors: JAZZ Venture Partners, Temasek, BlackRock Private Equity Partners, Owl Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital, Kicker Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, NEA, AI Fund
Total funding: $113.8 million
Doctor Anywhere
Description: "Speak to a qualified expert for mindset and mental wellness coaching confidentially via online video-consultation. Browse and choose a doctor of your choice, and book an appointment at a time of your convenience."
Amount raised: $88 million
Investors: Asia Partners, Novo Holdings, Philips, OSK-SBI Venture Partners, EDBI, Square Peg, IHH Healthcare, Kamet Capital, Pavilion Capital
Total funding: $96.8 million
Happify Health
Description: "How you feel matters! Whether you're feeling sad, anxious, or stressed, Happify brings you effective tools and programs to help you take control of your feelings and thoughts."
Amount raised: $73 million
Investors: Deerfield Management Company, Omega Capital Partners, ION Crossover Partners
Total funding: $118.7 million 
Description: "Brightline brings exceptional behavioral health care to kids, teens, and their families, when and where they need it"
Amount raised: $72 million
Investors: GV, Optum Ventures, 7wireVentures, Gaingels, Debra Lee, Oak HC/FT, Threshold Ventures, Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, SemperVirens VC, City Light Capital
Total funding: $104 million 
Headway
Description: "Tens of millions of Americans seek mental health care every day, but the vast majority never get the care they need. Headway is solving this, and we’re doing it all through software."
Amount raised: $70 million
Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive, GV, Accel
Total funding: $100.5 million
Quartet Health
Description: "Quartet is a platform that makes it easier for people to get the best mental health care for them."
Amount raised: $60 million
Investors: Independence Health Group, GV, Oak HC/FT
Total funding: $215.9 million
Description: "Transforming mental healthcare, by unlocking the power of clinical data"
Amount raised: $53 million
Investors: Morningside, Sony Innovation Fund, IP Group, Molten Ventures, Ananda Impact Ventures
Total funding: $77.9 million 
Ophelia
Description: "Our mission is to reinvent the drug rehab model - to replace folklore with science, drug dealers with doctors, and stigma with privacy, convenience, and choice."
Amount raised: $50 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst, Refactor Capital, 640 Oxford Ventures, Interplay Ventures, PillPack founder Elliot Cohen, Good Friends
Total funding: $67.7 million
aptihealth
Description: "aptihealth partners with health plans and systems to integrate and provide access at any point of care. We deliver population-precise teen and adult care programs for every level of acuity—from those struggling with mild symptoms to members with severe and persistent mental illness."
Amount raised: $50 million
Investors: Takeda Digital Ventures, Pivotal Life Sciences, Vista Credit Partners, Olive Tree Ventures, Claritas Capital, What If Ventures
Total funding: $65 million
Unmind
Description: "Unmind is a workplace mental health platform. We empower employees to proactively measure, understand, and improve their mental wellbeing."
Amount raised: $47 million
Investors: EQT Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Project A, Felix Capital, True
Total funding: $63.2 million
Description: "We are redefining psychiatry with AI-driven brain biomarkers that align the right patient with the right Alto drug, leveraging the richest in-human data set specifically built for precision psychiatry. Our work builds on a decade of clinical neuroscience research."
Amount raised: $40 million
Investors: Apeiron Investment Group, Windham Venture Partners, What If Ventures, Able Partners, Risk and Return, Tim Kendall
Total funding: $40 million
Meru
Description: "Meru Health is more than talk therapy —we know that mental health is about sleep, nutrition, and social support, too. Our intervention combines quality on-demand clinical support with the day-to-day changes that make a real difference in people’s lives."
Amount raised: $38 million
Investors: Industry Ventures, Bold Capital Partners, Freestyle VC, FMZ Ventures, Leksell Social Ventures, J.P. Morgan
Total funding: $51.3 million
Manual
Description: "We’re challenging the outdated notion that real men shrug their shoulders and carry on. By empowering men with all the information and choices they need to proactively own their wellbeing, we can turn a corner. We’re here to be your own personal manual. A guide to owning your health and happiness. Giving you all the tools you need to be good to you."
Amount raised: $30 million
Investors: Sonoma Brands, Waldencast, Felix Capital and Cherry Ventures, FJ Labs, the GISEV Family Office
Total funding: $36.7 million
Koa Health
Description: "At Koa Health, we believe in putting people (and their mental health) first. So we’ve made it our goal to leverage technology and research to enable people to change their behaviors with effective and accessible support that adapts to their unique circumstances."
Amount raised: €30 million
Investors: Wellington Partners Life Sciences, Ancora Finance Group, MTIP, Akilia Partners, Creas Impacto, Sabadell Asabys, Mundi Ventures.
Total funding: €44.1 million
Description: "At Alma, we’re pioneering a new model for mental health care — one that gives providers the autonomy of a private practice with the support of the Alma platform."
Amount raised: $28 million; $50 million
Investors: Insight Partners, Optum Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, Primary Venture Partners, Sound Ventures, BoxGroup, Rainfall Ventures
Total funding: $90.5 million
Ellipsis Health
Description: "Ellipsis Health has pioneered an artificial intelligence-powered, speech-based vital sign to quantify and manage stress, depression, and anxiety symptoms at scale."
Amount raised: $26 million
Investors: SJF Ventures, AblePartners, Akhil Paul at Caparo Group, Alumni Ventures, Divesh Makan, Gaingels, Gary Loveman, Generator Ventures, Greycroft, Helmy Eltoukhy, Joanne Bradford, Khosla Ventures, Luminous Ventures, TIME Ventures, Richard Socher, Ricardo Villela Marino, SpringTide Ventures, What If Ventures
Total funding: $30 million
Description: "We pride ourselves on partnering with healthcare leaders to assist in driving better outcomes and make a positive impact. NeuroFlow exists to make sure no patient who needs behavioral health support falls through the cracks."
Amount raised: $20 million
Investors: Magellan Health
Total funding: $31 million
Pace
Description: "Pace is for people who are going through the typical challenges of life, but who may not need therapy or counseling right now. For people currently engaged in individual therapy, Pace can be complementary, a place to practice new skills and learnings."
Amount raised: $1.9 million; $18 million
Investors: Nellie and Max Levchin, Jeff Weiner, Emilie Choi, Ben Silbermann, Box Group, SV Angel, Pace Capital, BoxGroup, Sequoia Capital.
Total funding: $19.9 million
Mightier
Description: "We pair video games with clinically validated strategies to help kids build confidence and thrive."
Amount raised: $17 million
Investors: DigiTx Partners, the Sony Innovation Fund, PBJ Capital
Total funding: $29.3 million
Valera
Description: "At Valera Health, we practice complete care. Our expert clinicians work together to provide treatment that is streamlined, coordinated, and centered around you. Our telehealth platform keeps you connected to your care team no matter where you are. Our approach is collaborative. You, your health coach, therapist, and psychiatrist form a team that’s focused on one goal: your wellness."
Amount raised: $15 million
Investors: Windham Venture Partners, Aquiline Technology Growth, MultiCare Health System, Divergent Investments, Watershed, GreyMatter Capital, Gaingels, AXA Venture Partners, Figure Eight Investments, Alsora Capital, Startup Health, Dr. Tom Insel
Total funding: $26.9 million
Description:
Amount raised: $14 million
Investors: Vertical Venture Partners, Town Hall Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, Healthy Ventures Clearvision Equity
Total funding: $14.5 million 
DotCom Therapy
Description: "Partnering with schools, health systems, health plans, communities and families to provide trustworthy and flexible speech, behavioral, and occupational therapy."
Amount raised: $13 million
Investors: New Capital Partners, LRVHealth, OSF Ventures
Total funding: $18.2 million
TRIPP
Description: "TRIPP XR combines proven meditation techniques, flow-inducing gameplay, binaural audio, and breath visualization to transform how you feel."
Amount raised: $11 million
Investors: Vine Ventures, Mayfield, Integrated
Total funding: $15 million
Brave Health
Description: "Brave Health is a virtual clinic specializing in behavioral health. We provide telehealth-enabled counseling, therapy, psychiatry, and medication management, including medication assisted treatment (MAT). We treat a range of conditions across the spectrum of mental health and substance use disorder."
Amount raised: $10 million
Investors: City Light Capital, Union Square Ventures, Able Partners
Total funding: $20.75 million
Description: "Transforming mental health for millions with VR therapy"
Amount raised: $10 million
Investors: Optum Ventures, Oxford Sciences Innovation
Total funding: $26 million
Real
Description: "Everyone has mental health, but not everyone believes they have a reason to seek mental health care. That's why we created Real: an essential tool for making mental wellness an essential part of life."
Amount raised: $10 million
Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Megan Rapinoe, Eric Kendricks, Gwyneth Paltrow
Total funding: $16 million
Description: "We make mental health, autism and ADHD support accessible to those who need it."
Amount raised: $10 million
Investors: InHealth Ventures, AlbionVC
Total funding: £9.2 million
UpLift
Description: "
UpLift is a technology-driven mental healthcare company on a mission to improve access for everyone. We make the search for licensed therapists as affordable and convenient as possible."
Amount raised: $8 million
Investors: B Capital Group, Vivek Garipalli, Bay Gross, Bobby Green
Total funding: $8 million
Nirvana Health
Description: "It's our mission to make consistent mental health care accessible to everyone.
We're insurance claims experts that help therapists and clients get paid, every time, so nothing gets in the way of reliable care."
Amount raised: $7.5 million
Investors: Eniac Ventures, RTP Seed, Arc Ventures
Total funding: $15.2 million
QLER Telehealth
Description: "QLER Solutions has developed an innovative, market-leading on-demand solution to expand the access and delivery of psychiatric care across the country and to all levels of care settings."
Amount raised: $7.4 million
Investors: MedEquity Capital, Relevance Ventures
Total funding: $11.5 million
ifeel
Description: "We care for your employees’ emotional well-being with a holistic solution that increases motivation and talent retention by applying the knowledge of psychology to the business world."
Amount raised: $6.6 million
Investors: Nauta Capital, SCOR Life & Health Ventures
Total funding: $9.7 million
Eleos Health
Description: "Eleos Health has pioneered the new category of ambient VoiceAI workflow solutions to drive operational and clinical efficiency for behavioral health providers."
Amount raised: $6 million
Investors: aMoon Fund, lool ventures, Gandyr Group, Arkin Holdings, Geingels, former c-suite and executives from Google, MIT Media Lab, and Pegasystems
Total funding: $8 million
Wysa
Description: "Wysa AI Coach is an artificial intelligence-based 'emotionally intelligent' service which responds to the emotions you express and uses evidence-based cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT), DBT, meditation, breathing, yoga, motivational interviewing and micro-actions to help you build mental resilience skills and feel better."
Amount raised: $5.5 million
Investors: W Health Ventures, The Google Assistant Investment program, pi Ventures, Kae Capital
Total funding: $9.4 million
Hurdle
Description: "Hurdle provides Culturally Intentional Teletherapy and respects the unique needs of everyone. With cultural humility, we create a safe space where all people can show up as they are and feel understood. We are committed to providing culturally responsive, and evidence-based care to all people, while focusing on serving People of Color and other minority groups."
Amount raised: $5 million
Investors: 406 Ventures, Seae Ventures, F-Prime
Total funding: $5 million 
Talkiatry
Description: "Talkiatry is the largest, most innovative group of in-network psychiatrists in the New York Area. We’ve got a large support team to make sure you have what you need to start feeling better. We’ll work with you to match you with one of our doctors and determine treatment options and visit frequency. We’ll be there every step of the way, from dealing with insurance and scheduling to tracking your progress over time."
Amount raised: $5 million
Investors: Sikwoo Capital Partners, Relevance Ventures, Richard Park, M.D.
Total funding: $37 million 
Mojo
Description: "We built the Mojo community because pills couldn't fix our psychological issues of getting and staying hard. Mojo's what we wish we'd had when we were struggling."
Amount raised: £3.3 million
Investors: Kindred Capital, Octopus Ventures, Tom Blomfield, Julien Callede, Ian Hogarth, Freddy Macnamara, Alex Rose, Errol Damelin
Total funding: £3.3 million
Little Otter
Description: "Personalized mental health app for families and children 0-14, designed by the world experts in childhood mental health and delivered fully virtually through our state-of-the-art platform to the comfort of your home."
Amount raised: $4.2 million
Investors: Torch Capital, Springbank Collective
Total funding: $26.2 million
Description: "We want to make the world a happier place. Our vision is to make taking care of our mental health as normal as going to the gym. We want to remove the stigma surrounding the mind by creating a live mental health platform that helps people sleep better, stress less and feel happier."
Amount raised: $3.5 million
Investors: PROFounders Capital, Slack Fund, Jeremy Darroch, Passion Capital, Seedcamp.
Total funding: $3.5 million 
NUE Life Health
Description: "We’re a next-gen mental wellness company that believes in the power of psychedelics to catalyze lasting change."
Amount raised: $3.3 million
Investors: Jack Abraham, Shervin Pishevar, Martin Varsavsky, Jon Oringer, James Bailey, Christina Getty
Total funding: $3.3 million
Journey Clinical
Description: "We empower psychotherapists to provide effective, and transformative ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) to their patients"
Amount raised: $3 million
Investors: Fifty Years, Neo Kuma Ventures, Palo Santo, PsyMed Ventures, Lionheart Ventures, Christina Sass, Edvard Engesæth, Hans Gangeskar
Total funding: $3 million
Mindful Care
Description: "Mindful Care is the first ever same-day mental health company focused on providing psychiatric care, group therapy, and individual therapy."
Amount raised: $2.7 million
Investors: Sopris Capital, the Caruso Foundation, the University of Chicago, Venkon Group
Total funding: $4.2 million
Oliva
Description: "We believe mental healthcare should be meaningful, accessible, and stigma-free"
Amount raised: £2.2 million
Investors: Moonfire Ventures
Total funding: £2.2 million
Intellect
Description: "Intellect provides the easiest yet most comprehensive mental health benefits for individuals & workforces. Speak with behavioural health coaches, work with licensed psychologists, or take on self-guided programs, entirely within an app."
Amount raised: $2.2 million
Investors: Insignia Venture Partners, Y Combinator, XA Network, J.J. Chai, Danny Yeung, Gilberto Gaeta
Total funding: $13 million
Heights
Description: "Lethargy, anxiety, distraction. These slow our bodies down. But we go straight to the root of things—the brain. We make sure it has the nutrients it needs to thrive, and impact your whole body. So you feel better, all day, every day."
Amount raised: $2 million
Investors: Seedrs, Forward Partners, Tom Singh, Damian Bradfield, Dhiraj Mukherjee, Renee Elliot, Chris Smalling
Total funding: $2 million
Mantra Health
Description: "Mantra Health is the first digital mental health clinic that works cohesively with university counseling centers like never before."
Amount raised: $2 million
Investors: Canaan Partners, City Light Capital, Baleon Capital, Dr. Nitin Nanda
Total funding: $29.2 million 
Wave
Description: "Wave is an emotional health platform that gives you the tools to navigate life’s challenges without boring you to tears. Wave is not just another meditation app, compilation of cute animal videos (though we love them), or a bunch of questionable social media advice - it's no B.S. support backed by science, and personalized to you."
Amount raised: $2 million
Investors: Hannah Grey VC, K50 Ventures, Tribe Capital, Alumni Venture Group, Verissimo Ventures, Conscience VC
Total funding: $2 million
Revery
Description: "Using game thinking to revolutionize wellness"
Amount raised: $2 million
Investors: Sequoia Capital India’s Surge program, GGV Capital, Pascal Capital, zVentures, Albert Lee, Juha Paananen, Kunal Shah, Sai Srinivas, Carolin Krenzer, Josh Lee
Total funding: $2 million
Spill
Description: "Spill provides therapy sessions, manager mental health training, and regular feelings check-ins — embedded into your company's Slack."
Amount raised: £2.2 million
Investors: Ada Ventures, Seedcamp, Future Fund
Total funding: £2.8 million
Grouport
Description: "Grouport's mission is to make online group therapy easily accessible at the click of a button, and to provide an affordable care option that doesn't compromise on quality. Utilizing its specialized therapist network, Grouport creates groups structured by diagnosis to give patients a tight knit community that they feel comfortable regularly confiding in."
Amount raised: $1.5 million
Investors: 380 Cap, Taub Ventures
Total funding: $1.5 million 
Therify
Description: "We’re building a future where mental healthcare will be inclusive, personalized, and designed to work for everyone."
Amount raised: $1.3 million
Investors: SB Opportunity Fund, Looking Glass Capital, Y Combinator, Flexport, True Culture Fund, K5 Global, Ellen Pao
Total funding: $1.4 million
ThoughtFull
Description: "A subscription-based mobile platform that empowers users to proactively engage with their mental health via self-serve tools and 1-on-1 daily bite-sized coaching with certified mental health professionals."
Amount raised: $1.1 million
Investors: The Hive SEA, Flybridge, Vulpes Investment Management
Total funding: $1.4 million 
MindFi
Description: "MindFi was founded with a vision to build positive minds and productive workplaces. We make Corporate Wellness measurable and actionable while empowering employees with holistic wellbeing to lead healthy and fulfilling lives."
Amount raised: $750,000
Investors: iGlobe Partners, M Venture Partners, Koh Boon Hwee, Jeffrey Tiong, Lim Qing Ru, Natasha Foong, Aakash Degwekar, Shadab Farooqui
Total funding: $937,700
(Note: this article was updated to also include the $50 million round raised by Alma)
(Image source: openclipart.org)
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