Mental, Behavioral, & Brain Health Startups: Q1 2022 Market Update
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS
▪ So far in 2022 (as of May 1, 2022), mental, behavioral, and brain health startups raised ~$1.3 billion over 50+ startups.
▪ In Q1 2022, fundraising slowed significantly with mental, behavioral, and brain health startups raising ~$1.1 billion over 40+ startups. This is down 27% from 2021’s average quarter funding volume & down 11% from Q1 2021’s funding volume.
▪ In Q1 2022, MBH startup funding accounted for ~19% of total digital health funding (according to Rock Health), staying relatively stable compared to 21% in 2021.
▪ In Q1 2022, the average deal size has hovered at $29M, not changing much from $30M in 2021. Larger later-stage deals continue to be funded.
▪ The top two most funded categories are Telehealth (50%) & Digital Therapeutics (25%)
CHARTS
VALUATIONS
STARTUP SPOTLIGHT
Wise Therapeutics (www.wisedtx.com) is solving the global engagement gap in mental health with its approach to therapeutic gaming. The company is co-founded by serial consumer and healthtech entrepreneurs Raj Amin and Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, an expert in neuroscience and emotion regulation. Wise has completed 7 NIH-backed clinical trials on its mobile “hyper-casual” game-based treatment and is now moving through an FDA Approval process for its first prescription game in the growing market for prescription digital therapeutics. The company’s first PDT targets generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder. Clinical partner launches include NYU Langone Health, Weill Cornell Medicine, Compass Therapy, and Healthy Young Minds. The company is expanding its new clinical partners including a national health insurer, to offer a first-line treatment for stress and anxiety. Wise is raising seed financing to support its Pivotal Trial in H2 2022, FDA Approval process, expanded customer deployments, and R&D on its pipeline products. Investors (angels & VC funds) can reach out directly to its CEO, raj@wisedtx.com
Sid Desai, co-founder and CEO of Rocket VR Health started the company after noticing a decline in his dad’s overall mental wellbeing as he was going through his cancer journey a few years ago. Sid’s co-founder Nik Vassev previously created/exited a digital health start-up Mindleap Health. Boston-based Rocket VR Health develops VR-based digital therapeutics to address mental health needs in cancer patients and survivors. Recently, it inked a research agreement with the Massachusetts General Hospital. The agreement will allow Rocket VR Health to leverage its VR platform to jointly develop clinical therapies for cancer patients and caregivers. Rocket VR Health’s partnership will explore VR and its therapeutic effects on patients receiving HCT treatment and hospitalization. Rocket VR Health is also working with Penn Medicine to develop/pilot a digital therapeutic to help reduce procedural anxiety (scanxiety) in cancer patients undergoing radiation scans. They are currently raising $2M to bring their first-ever VR-based digital therapeutic for cancer survivors to market.
Voi (www.voi.health) is a healthcare technology company delivering empirically validated solutions that address the needs of those at risk for suicide and other behavioral health issues. The Voi platform offers a suite of tools that identify and aid at-risk individuals. The solution, which is considered the equivalent of a psychiatrist in detecting imminent suicide risk, has traction in healthcare systems, the military, and corrections-related clients. Voi’s CEO is Rick Johnson, a retired US Marine Corps Colonel with 34 years of service, a former Assistant Attorney General, and a former healthcare executive. He can be reached at rick@voi.health.
Heading Health (www.headinghealth.com) is a psychiatric clinic platform focused on the administration of psychedelic-assisted therapy to treat chronic mood and anxiety disorders. Their hybrid in-person-digital model integrates telehealth alongside in-center treatments such as TMS, Spravato, and intramuscular ketamine. Heading Health is currently in network with 20 plans in Texas and looks forward to creating value-based arrangements in the future. Heading Health is currently raising capital, so reach out to Simon Tankel, CEO of Heading Health, at simon@headinghealth.com. He has experience in emerging regulated industries from his time at Iuvo Therapeutics and Zomet Energy.
RiskAverse (www.riskaversehealth.com) is a member engagement solution for payers, providers, and nonprofits. The company identifies at-risk individuals for various diseases through their unique questionnaires focused on SDoH, lifestyle, and behavioral factors. After completing the questionnaire, the member has the ability to take action in real-time and self-navigate themselves to the best care pathway within their payer’s services (i.e. behavioral health services). The company is finalizing agreements with two local Medicare Advantage Plans and has user metrics through partnerships with 4 social service organizations. RiskAverse is raising $3 million in seed financing to help scale to more payers and execute on additional revenue opportunities. Investors can contact co-founder Kaushik at kaushik@riskaversehealth.com.
Legion Health is building a B2B mental health marketplace by connecting mental health professionals with health care organizations that need their services. Digital health companies, hospitals, and other health care organizations white-label Legion Health’s virtual network to serve the demand they face for psychiatric and therapeutic services. Based in Austin, the company recently secured $2 million in funding and has a network of over 800 mental health professionals working.
GIMBHI Landscape
Rather than categorizations focused on the business model or target client, our methodology is product-focused. For example, Unmind is described as a workplace mental health platform that empowers employees to measure, understand, and improve their mental wellbeing. We put Unmind in the Interactive Software category because the platform offers self-guided programs and interactive courses focused on mental health. The Wellness category includes startups focused on mental, emotional, and cognitive wellness which would include meditation, mindfulness, positive psychology, sleep, and emotional well-being, among other areas. Measurement, testing, and diagnostics include startups such as Lineagen (a startup that provides genetic evaluation services for autism and developmental delay) and Neurotrack (a developer of digital cognitive health solutions to help individuals assess and monitor their cognitive health). Interactive Software includes companies that develop software to help treat or cope with mental health disorders, intellectual disabilities, or developmental disabilities. However, this category would exclude prescription software therapeutics. The Provider Tools category includes tools primarily targeted at mental healthcare providers such as Valant (EHR behavioral health software for private practices). Digital Therapeutics includes startups that have developed digital therapeutics or have stated an intention to develop digital therapeutics. We use the category of Tech-Enabled Treatment Platforms to include startups that leverage technology to provide mental healthcare but still offer traditional, in-person care delivery. This includes startups like TwoChairs and Eleanor Health. Patient Tools include tools created for patient or consumer use. The Telehealth bucket includes startups primarily focused on telehealth with a focus on mental health such as Talkspace and AbleTo.
EXTRA
Newsletters
If you’re interested in mental wellbeing in any sense, do subscribe to Rich Goddard’s Monday State of Mind here: https://www.richgoddard.co/monday-state-of-mind
If you’re interested in psychedelics, Psilocybin Alpha created by Josh Hardman has excellent coverage of the industry: https://psilocybinalpha.com/
Subscribe to our research & market intelligence, and join our network. Feel free to reach out to our founder, Shivan Bhavnani (shiv@gimbhi.com) with any questions, comments, or ideas.
