Virtual clinical supervision platform Motivo Health raised $14 million in a Series A funding round led by long-term investor Cox Enterprises, with participation from SteelSky Ventures and Great Oaks Venture Capital.

Motivo enables virtual supervision and coordination of licensure requirements for mental health at the state level, connecting them with clinical supervisors to help reduce the cost and time to achieve and maintain licensure for therapists.

The company's founder, therapist Rachel McCrickard, started Motivo in 2017 to help remove the barriers she faced when getting her own license, when she was forced to travel two hours to the closest supervisor.

Users can browse Motivo's directory of nearly 1,000 vetted supervisors, with the ability to filter by state, license type and specialty area, then schedule a free introductory call.

Once they have matched with a supervisor, the supervision sessions can begin immediately through a tiered pay-as-you-go model that can be customized according to a group's size, or as a one-on-one option.

Motivo’s platform includes a back-end practice-management component for supervisors, along with other features for hours tracking, secure documentation and payment.

The Atlanta-based startup has also formed partnerships with the American Counseling Association and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and recorded a $2.2 million seed funding round in December 2019, also led by Cox Enterprises.

THE LARGER TREND

Startups in the mental health space continue to receive funding, including mental health chatbot Wysa, which in July scored $20 million in a Series B financing round led by HealthQuad.

That same month, teletherapy startup Sensible Care raised $13 million in a Series A funding round and plans to use the funds to expand to states with large TRICARE populations, like Texas, Florida and Virginia.

Earlier this year, mental health benefits startup Spring Health expanded into family care through a partnership with Weldon that offers chats with therapists, social workers and parenting coaches, as well as group support and educational content.

It's not just startups. Amazon plans to add behavioral health services to its Amazon Care offering, and via a partnership with digital mental health company Ginger.

ON THE RECORD

"At a time when our society needs quality mental health providers, it’s critical we leverage technology to remove unnecessary barriers in the licensure process,” McCrickard said in a statement.

“We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Cox Enterprises, SteelSky Ventures and others. Our investors align with our mission and will help accelerate our growth, while also keeping a keen eye on the overall quality and impact we are having on the mental health profession."