Dive Brief:
- SonderMind has acquired technology and “select technology team members” from Mindstrong, a digital mental health platform that revealed plans to shutter its operations earlier this year.
- Mindstrong raised a $100 million series C round early in the pandemic, bringing its total funding haul up to $160 million, but at the start of 2023 filed to layoff 128 employees and permanently close its office in California by Mar. 24. The news came amid a steep fall in digital health funding.
- SonderMind, which matches people to local therapists, has stepped in to acquire technology and some staff from Mindstrong. The rest of Mindstrong has terminated its operations.
Dive Insight:
Mindstrong was one of the digital health startups that raised large financing rounds as the pandemic increased interest in virtual healthcare. The company provided access to an in-house team of therapists, psychiatrists and care coordinators via smartphones and created an app designed to track changes in mental health symptoms through “AI-powered digital biomarker technology.”
The app was designed to alert the clinical team when the digital biomarkers indicated a patient’s mental health may be at risk of deteriorating. Other features included in-app messaging, video and phone conversations with therapists and telehealth medication management with a psychiatrist.
SonderMind has its own app for Android and iOS devices, through which it matches users to therapists, and another app to “measure, monitor and strengthen your brain” that stems from its 2022 buyout of Total Brain.
“With the addition of Mindstrong technology, we will be equipping clinicians with the clinical capabilities they need — such as tailored care pathways and enhanced measurement-based care — using technology and data to strengthen their ability to deliver high-quality care that helps individuals get better, faster,” SonderMind CEO Mark Frank said in a statement.
The collapse of Mindstrong comes amid a turbulent period for the digital health sector. U.S. funding increased from $8.1 billion in 2019 to $29.3 billion in 2021, only to fall by around 50% in 2022, according to Rock Health Funding collapsed in the second half of 2022 and, while it was still the second biggest year for digital health ever, it became harder to raise money at attractive valuations.
