Being Health, a psychiatrist-founded mental health practice, raised $5-4 million in seed funding, co-founder Allie Sharma tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters:
Mental health resources can be fragmented, with many point solutions. Being Health aims to treat patients with a personalized, holistic approach.
Details:
Investors in this round include 18 Park and HDS Capital.
• Proceeds will help open Being Health's first clinic in lower Manhattan, Sharma says.
• Once the concept is proven as a repeatable model, the company hopes to expand further in New York City and other areas of the U.S.
How it works:
Being Health provides psychiatry and psychotherapy, along with alternative treatments like ketamine infusion therapy, acupuncture and nutrition counseling.
• The company has a team of 11 providers - spanning psychiatrists, licensed clinical social workers, nurse anesthetists, and acupuncturists and nutritionists.
• Being Health offers both in-person and virtual care. Ketamine consultations and preparation sessions are available in person and virtually.
What's next:
Being Health aims to add to its administrative team and hire more clinicians.
• Sharma declined to comment on runway.
What they're saying:
"We are combining the best of what is tried and tested in psychiatry with what is new and novel in our field," Sharma says.
• "For certain patients with certain conditions, psychedelics is another tool in the toolkit," she adds.
• "Over 90% of mental health is done by individual practitioners and they are not in a position to do holistic approach," says HDS founder Haim Dabah.
Be smart:
Patient demand for alternative treatments including psychedelics is robust, but a shortage of clinicians and lack of standardization and general oversight has stymied the market.
• In the meantime, investors have Pursued companies that provide back-end support for ketamine therapy and track outcomes.
