Mental Health Care Benefits Provider Lyra Health Raises $187M

Mental health care benefits provider Lyra Health has raised $187 million in Series E funding, the company announced Friday, bringing its total funding raised up to about $480 million.

The latest round was led by the venture capital firm Addition. New investors Durable Capital Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Co. and Baillie Gifford also participated, as did existing funders.

Headquartered in Burlingame, California, Lyra is a digital technology startup that partners with workplaces to connect employees and their families with mental health services. Lyra’s online platform helps employees find the best service options for their needs through the use of an algorithmic process known as intelligent matching technology.

In 2020, Lyra more than doubled its customer base, with more than 2 million members now supported by Lyra. Some of the company’s corporate customers include Genentech, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Zoom (Nasdaq: ZM).

The Series E funding comes after Lyra last August raised $110 million in Series D funding to bring the company to unicorn status. In the startup world, unicorns are privately held companies whose total valuation is at least $1 billion. Plus, the news comes less than a year after Lyra raised $75 million in Series C.

Lyra’s success over the past year is in line with the trends that have played out in the digital behavioral health market at large. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a rise in drug use and mental health challenges, causing the popularity of digital behavioral health companies to also spike. As a result, funding for digital behavioral health startups — which usually allow for services to be conveniently rendered remotely in line with social distancing measures — hit record highs as the pandemic progressed through 2020. Overall, digital behavioral saw 55 deals last year for a total of about $1.8 billion, according to Rock Health.

Meanwhile, Lyra said that it plans to use its new funding to expand its investments in its virtual mental health care services, as well as to grow its provider network and develop new partnerships with global organizations.

“2020 put the need for mental health care transformation in sharp focus, as more people sought help during these extraordinary and difficult times,” David Ebersman, Lyra Health’s CEO and co-founder, said in a press release announcing the news. “The traditional mental health care system cannot address the critical needs people have today. …This latest financing round will allow Lyra to continue to develop new and innovative care solutions while reaching new customers and members.”