Modern Health, a digital mental well-being platform, acquired Kip, a digital mental health startup.
The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Kip is backed by investment firms: Slow Ventures, Refractor Capital, Jumpstart, and Great Oaks Venture Capital.
According to Kip, its digital mental health platform matches patients with qualified therapists and provides them with the tools to track observations, feedback, and outcomes about their mental health journey. Using the Kip platform, patients can also have a virtual consultation with a therapist or book a one-on-one in-person appointment.
Modern Health said in a statement that Kip’s evidence-based communication, assessment and analytics tools would improve its ability to track and analyze outcomes and feedback over time.
Kip Co-founder and CEO Ti Zhao will join Modern Health’s product development team to further expand its suite of mental health solutions and analytics.
The acquisition comes on the heels of Modern Health’s recent $51 million Series C investment round, led by Battery Ventures. Modern Health has raised almost $100 million to date.
“Tracking mental health outcomes is a longstanding challenge. We know that, in order to improve the mental health experience, we need to put the right systems in place to collect and analyze progress over time,” said Alyson Watson, Modern Health founder, and CEO. “We are thrilled to join forces with a team that shares our same passion for expanding access to data-driven, outcomes-based mental health care, and customizing the mental health experience to meet each individual’s needs.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression are very common. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety is the most common mental illness, impacting 40 million adults in the U.S. According to the CDC, 40% of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse during late June in 2020 amid the pandemic. With rising demand, digital mental health companies have secured almost $1 billion in VC funding in the past 12 months.
“The missions of Kip and Modern Health are closely aligned: bring high-quality, data-driven mental health care to as many people as possible,” said Ti Zhao, Kip co-founder and CEO. “We are excited to let Kip’s legacy live on through Modern Health as we make our shared vision a reality for employers across the world.”
A total of 184 digital health companies were acquired in 2020, compared to 169 in 2019, a 9% increase in M&A activity in year-over-year, according to Mercom’s Q4 and 2020 Digital Health Funding and M&A Report.
