The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted a need for mental health services, particularly for children who are carrying a heavier emotional load than previous generations.
Brightline, a virtual behavioral health platform for children, adolescents and their caregivers, announced this week that it will expand its services with an additional $105 million in funding. The Series C financing brings the company’s overall funding to more than $200 million.
The startup, which offers digital on-demand support, coaching programs and an extensive list of clinical services, was recently named on Fast Company’s 2022 Most Innovative Companies list.
Brightline has more than 200 employees, including roughly 80 mental health clinicians. A company representative told Built In that the company plans to have between 200 and 250 clinicians by the end of the year.
The company recently launched in seven new markets to round out its clinical coverage in all 50 states. These new markets are Connecticut, Hawaii, Oklahoma, Oregon, New Mexico, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Brightline will use its new funding to explore the possibility of collaborating with ecosystem partners to provide specialized care. The company also plans to expand its teen services and specialty programs for caregivers of young children on the autism spectrum and youth who identify as LGBTQ+ or BIPOC.
Co-founder and CEO Naomi Allen said in a statement that Brightline is the only nationally-scaled company addressing the mental health challenges in children.
“With this investment, we are uniquely positioned to continue to expand our on-demand support and care offerings to meet the broad spectrum of youth mental health needs,” Allen said.
Brightline now serves 50 employers and covers more than 24 million health plan lives via partnerships with Aetna, Blue Shield of California, Stanford University and others. The company aims to cover more than 50 million health plan lives this year.
Brightline was not the only San Francisco-based mental health startup to raise funding this week. Another startup, Brightside Health, announced Tuesday that it raised $50 million in Series B funding, bringing its overall funding total to $75 million.
Brightside Health treats patients across the full spectrum of symptom severity with video visits, unlimited messaging, ongoing support and medication delivery.
After an intake assessment, the company uses a machine-learning algorithm to evaluate patients across more than 100 data points to assist providers in making treatment decisions.
“The Brightside model of combining data, technology and clinicians is changing mental health outcomes, with 86 percent of our members feeling better within the first 12 weeks,” Brightside founder and CEO Brad Kittredge said in a statement.
Similar to Brightline, Brightside also plans to use its new funding to hire additional staff. The company, which serves 30 million insurance members nationwide, plans to use the new funding to triple its team from 57 to 175 employees this year.
