Talkspace, a telehealth startup that started as a text and phone-based counseling business, connecting patients with a pool of therapists, has raised a Series B round led by Norwest Venture Partners.
In a phone interview with Talkspace Co-founder Roni Frank, she said the new funding would be used to support an expansion of the business to build a virtual group therapy platform geared to college students. The idea is to have a group of up to five connect with a therapist through video conferencing.
Frank said the group therapy areas would include depression, anxiety, stress, substance abuse, and eating disorders. The plan is to also offer this group therapy program to employers.
Reducing Clinical and Staff Burnout with AI Automation
As technology advances, AI-powered tools will increasingly reduce the administrative burdens on healthcare providers.
It’s interesting move because the company’s origins are focused on text-based therapy. Although it has offered video conferencing, the move into group therapy is a big change in a business that claims to attract a lot of new patients who never used therapy before for the very reason that it was anonymous.
The business has raised $28 million in venture capital funding to date, Frank said. It currently has 300,000 people who use its service. “For 50 percent, they are are trying therapy for the first time in their lives,” Frank said.
Its network of therapists includes psychologists, licensed mental health counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and clinical psychologists. It doesn’t provide medication.
In addition to Norwest Venture Partners, Spark Capital, Soft Bank, Metamorphic Ventures and The Time took part in the Series B.
Market Trends to Watch for Health Systems and Their Specialty Pharmacies
The future looks bright for the integrated specialty pharmacy model – for health systems, providers, and most importantly, for patients.
Dr. Linda Sacco also joined Talkspace as its vice president of behavioral health service and will essentially head up its clinical network, Frank said. Sacco previously served as an administrator for behavioral health sciences for 10 years at Barnabas Health.