Digital mental health newcomer Minded announced a $25 million seed funding round to support its behavioral health prescription medication platform. 

Streamlined Ventures, Link Ventures, The Tiger Fund, Unicorn Ventures, Trousdale Ventures, Gaingels, SALT Fund, TheFund all participated in the round, as well as individual contributors. 

WHAT THEY DO 

The company is focused on providing patients mental health medications without having to go to an in-person healthcare visit. 

Patients first use the company's online assessment to fill out questions about their health history and symptoms. The company then matches patients to a psychiatrist or nurse practitioner, who will virtually meet with the patient and determine their behavioral health medication needs. 

The service is then able to fill a patient's prescriptions every month and send it to the client's home or pharmacy of choice. After the initial consultation, users can tap into the platform to connect with a psychiatrist about medication or treatment virtually. 

The startup runs on a subscription-based model and charges clients $65 a month for the service. According to the New York-based company's website, the service can provide users with commonly prescribed medications for depression, anxiety and sleep. 

WHAT IT'S FOR 

The company plans to use the seed funding to expand throughout the US. It is also looking to expand the scope of its care and include therapeutics for attention and mood, as well as dip into the pharmacogenetic space and provide psychedelics for treatment-resistant depression. 

THE LARGER TREND 

The digital mental health space has exploded over the last decade. Digital behavioral health companies raked in $5.1 billion in venture deals in 2021, according to Rock Health.

Mental health conditions are prevalent in the US. According to the CDC, 19.2% of adults in the US received mental health treatment in 2019, and 15.8% reported taking prescription medications for their mental health conditions. While many digital health companies focus on matching clients to clinicians for talk therapy, some companies are also exploring the digital pharmacy space. 

Direct-to-consumer virtual health company Ro announced in July a new mental-health focused platform Romind that is able to treat anxiety, depression and seasonal affective disorder. Similar to Minded, customers fill out an online assessment, attend a one-on-one virtual meeting with a healthcare provider and can then get their prescription delivered to their home. 

Ro's main competitor Hims & Hers also expanded its scope of care to mental health services. 

ON THE RECORD 

​​“Mental health medication changed my life, but it’s still way too hard for most people to get quality care. Minded is on a mission to make it easy for millions of people to be just a few days and a Zoom call away from speaking with a caring, compassionate expert,” David Ronick, cofounder and CEO, said in a statement.