Addiction and mental health care provider Eleanor Health has banked $50 million in a series C funding round led by General Catalyst.
The startup’s evidence-based care model offers a variety of services, from psychiatry to peer recovery coaching, to help patients tackle addiction and mental health problems with a tech platform that allows providers to personalize and coordinate care.
Along with General Catalyst, existing investors Warburg Pincus and Town Hall Ventures participated in the series C round, joined by new investors Northpond Ventures and Rethink Impact.
More people in the U.S. are reporting struggles with mental health than ever before, a trend exacerbated by COVID-19. Two in 5 adults reported suffering symptoms of anxiety or depression during the pandemic, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Many find mental health resources in short supply, too—Black and Brown communities, in particular, face heightened access barriers to mental health care, one of the issues Biden’s 2023 budget proposal includes funding to address.
A flood of digital behavioral health startups have stepped in to fill the gaps. Digital health startups offering mental health tools raised $5.1 billion in 2021, $3.3 billion more than startups targeting any other clinical indication.
“Mental health and addiction are some of our biggest health crises, but the problem is not just about access to care,” said Corbin Petro, CEO and co-founder of Eleanor Health, in a statement. “Only one in 10 people with [substance use disorder] and less than half of people with a mental health condition receive treatment, largely due to stigma, quality of care and cost. Our population- and value-based models are designed for the 9 out of 10 people that may never receive care because of these barriers. We are so happy to partner with investors like General Catalyst to further our mission of helping people affected by addiction and other mental health conditions live amazing lives.”
Eleanor offers medication-assisted therapy, psychiatry, individual and group therapy, peer coaching for recovery, health navigation and nurse case management. In a study conducted by the company, 84% of members reported improvement in substance use, while 70% reported improvements in symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The company plans to use the fresh capital to land new risk-based population health partnerships, expand into new markets and invest in its care delivery and analytics platform.
“We are thrilled to join Eleanor on its mission to transform the way we treat, pay for, and deliver care to those suffering from addiction and mental illness,” said Chris Bischoff, managing director at General Catalyst. “Eleanor's model of providing high-value care that addresses all of their members’ health needs is fully aligned with our Health Assurance thesis. We are excited by the team's ability to drive sustainable outcomes and total cost of care reduction across large populations, and are deeply impressed by their accelerating traction with national and local payers."
The company has raised $82 million to date,most recently grabbing a $20 million series B round in May 2021.
Locally, Eleanor has partnered with Tufts, Amerigroup and Optum while also inking a national partnership with Aetna’s commercial business. The company projects it will manage more than 60,000 members by the end of 2022 through its partnership models.
Corbin Petro and Nzinga Harrison founded the Waltham, Massachusetts-based company in 2019. As female founders, Petro and Harrison say they aim to assemble diverse teams that reflect the patient populations they serve.
“We don’t always see the technology sector leading the fight on something like addiction and mental health,” said Jenny Abramson at Rethink Impact, a venture capital firm investing in tech startups with female and nonbinary leaders. “The last two years have reinforced the need for a radical transformation of addiction and mental health treatment. By leaning into more blended care models, innovative payer partnerships and with strong, diverse leaders at the helm, we think that Eleanor has the capacity to be the change that people struggling with addiction and other mental health conditions need.”