Meru Health, a provider of online mental health programs for depression, burnout, and anxiety, raised $38 million in a Series B funding round led by Industry Ventures. Additional investors in the funding round include Bold Capital Partners, Freestyle VC, FMZ Ventures, Leksell Social Ventures, and J.P. Morgan.
The new funding round includes equity and debt. The company plans to use the funds to expand nationwide, broaden efforts to partner with healthcare payers and employers, and expand access to a new coaching solution.
Launched in 2018, Meru Health works with employers, companies, employee assistant program providers, and healthcare payers to provide an online mental healthcare program. According to the company, in a peer-reviewed study, researchers found that 48% of participants with at-least moderate depressive symptoms responded to treatment, and 60% of participants had sustained depression and anxiety reductions at the 12-month follow-up. These response rates are higher than those found in a real-world antidepressant study that showed a response rate of less than 20% at the end of the treatment and less than 30 percent at 12-month follow-up.
Kristian Ranta, CEO, and Founder said: “Meru Health was founded to reinvent how mental healthcare works, including solving access challenges as well as creating a more holistic offering that could produce better and longer lasting results than what is available today. We knew this kind of new approach would require rigorous clinical validation. I’m proud of our work with the most intelligent minds in the world, collaborating with top universities such as Stanford and Harvard, and building a world-class in-house science team to keep building the most effective solution for mental health that really helps people to heal from depression and anxiety.”
“We were so impressed with the team’s commitment to addressing a pressing societal and market need with best-in-class clinical evidence and data. We also found Meru Health’s new coaching solution very exciting. Meru Health is essentially serving members across the continuum by bringing preventive care to mental health. No one else is doing that. We think there is tremendous potential here”, stated Fanni Fan, Vice President at Industry Ventures.
Telehealth companies raised a record $5 billion in 1H 2021, a 150% increase year-over-year compared to $2 billion raised in 1H 2020, according to the recently released Mercom’s 1H 2021 Digital Health Funding and M&A Report.
