What You Should Know:
– Lyra Health just announced another massive funding round of $187M, bringing its total to approximately $462 million and the valuation to approximately $2.3 billion.
– The company, which previously raised a series D round in August of $110M at a valuation slightly above $1 billion has now more than doubled in value.
– Lyra Health also announced a new partnership with global benefits company ICAS, which now allows it to provide some level of mental health parity to employees at a global scale.
Lyra Health, a Burlingame, CA-based provider of mental healthcare benefits for employers, today announced a Series E financing round of $187 million led by Addition along with new investors Durable Capital Partners LP, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and Baillie Gifford, and existing investors. This financing will enable Lyra to further expand its investments in pioneering tech-enabled mental health care, a growing and diverse provider network, and new partnerships to support the world’s largest global organizations. That latest round of funding brings Lyra’s total funding to date at $462M, bringing its valuation to approximately $2.3B.
Smarter Mental Health Benefits, Better Outcomes
Accessing and receiving mental healthcare is notoriously challenging for many Americans today. Cost, social stigma, and navigating the mental health system make it daunting for individuals to get the care they need. More than 83% of U.S. employees are experiencing mental health issues, according to research Lyra Health conducted in 2020 in partnership with the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. Additionally, 40% of workers feel employers don’t support their mental health.
Founded in 2015, Lyra connects employees to high quality, effective mental health providers, and gives employees the flexibility of in-person care, live video therapy, and digital self-care tools. Lyra’s therapists only practice evidence-based therapies, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and are available for appointments in just a few days.
Tech-Enabled Mental Health Backed by Science
Lyra also continues to pioneer new evidence-based, technology-enabled mental health solutions that accelerate access to care and match members to clinically proven programs that prioritize fast and durable symptom improvement. In 2020, the company introduced Lyra Blended Care, which pairs video therapy sessions with personalized digital lessons and exercises based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) principles. Lyra Blended Care is scalable and extensible, leveraging technology to deliver better care quality and clinical outcomes, while reducing the cost of care. In 2020, peer-reviewed Lyra research demonstrated the effectiveness of the Blended Care treatment program for clients with depression and anxiety. Lyra plans to continue expanding Blended Care to serve a wide range of members and mental health challenges.
Recent Traction/Milestones
Lyra more than doubled its customer base in 2020 and extended its services to support more than 2 million members with comprehensive mental health care. Lyra customers include Genentech, a member of the Roche Group; Morgan Stanley; Zoom Video Communications; and dozens of the world’s largest, most respected brands.
Lyra also announced a partnership with Calm, the top mental fitness and resilience application, with more than 90 million downloads to date. Through the partnership, Lyra is making it easier for employers to offer a wide range of mental health tools from a single platform.
“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. “The traditional mental health care system cannot address the critical needs people have today. Lyra is now able to directly support more than 2 million members as we enable employers to offer their people easy, effective access to clinically proven mental health care. This latest financing round will allow Lyra to continue to develop new and innovative care solutions while reaching new customers and members.”
Partnership with ICAS World to Deliver Comprehensive Mental Health Care Globally
In addition, the funding, Lyra announced a partnership with ICAS World to support members in more than 180 countries. ICAS is a global employee assistance program (EAP) provider with operations in more than 43 in-country offices, covering 2,400 organizations and 4.5 million people. The partnership will enable leading companies to offer access to quality, comprehensive mental health care for their employees around the world.
“ICAS is proud to combine our robust network and local providers with Lyra’s innovative approach to delivering mental health care,” said Andrew Davies, CEO of ICAS World. “Our joint efforts deliver a powerful support system for companies and their employees around the world, raising the level of access and care to match the accelerating demand worldwide.”
