Lyra Health doubles valuation with $187M funding round

After swirling media reports over the last few weeks that Lyra Health was raising a massive amount of new funding, the Burlingame-based mental health benefits provider confirmed Thursday morning it had secured $187 million at $2.3 billion valuation.

The new funding doubles Lyra’s $1 billion valuation from its previous $110 million Series D round in August, and brings the mental health startup’s total funding to about $480 million.

The huge round and impressive valuation is another sign that workplace mental health treatment has gone from stigmatized a few years ago to the hottest trend in digital health.

While digital mental health offerings had been trending in the right direction, the coronavirus pandemic accelerated its adoption as people seek help coping amid the turmoil of the last 10 months that have included a deadly pandemic, polarized politics, physical isolation, financial challenges and wildfires.

“2020 put the need for mental health care transformation in sharp focus, as more people sought help during these extraordinary and difficult times,” said David Ebersman, Lyra Health CEO and co-founder, in a statement. “This latest financing round will allow Lyra to continue to develop new and innovative care solutions while reaching new customers and members.”

Last year, Lyra doubled its customer base, now boasting that its mental health benefits cover more 2 million members. Lyra provides service to employers through its digital platform, where employees can access therapists, mental health coaches and prescription medication.

Founded in 2015, Lyra has emerged as the leader in the digital mental health benefits space, serving high-profile customers that include Genentech, Morgan Stanley and Zoom Video Communications, Starbucks, Uber, as well as dozens of large employers, according to the company.

The unicorn startup has also just partnered with ICAS International, a worldwide provider of Employee Assistance Programs, or EAPs, in more than 180 countries. Last year, Lyra also partnered with fellow unicorn mental health wellness all-star startup Calm, a meditation app with more than 90 million downloads.

Lyra’s digital mental health offerings include teletherapy, which combines video sessions with personalized digital tools based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), an empirically-based psychological intervention focused on changing specific negative behaviors.

The original article can be found at: BizJournals