NOCD Raises $34M in Round Led by Cigna Ventures, 7wireVentures

Chicago-based NOCD raised $34 million in its latest funding round.

The behavioral health tech company will now expand its therapist workforce, raise public awareness for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and expand its outcomes data collection and analysis efforts. 

NOCD’s total funding has reached about $84 million since its founding in 2018, according to Crunchbase. In September 2021, the company hauled in a $33 million funding round.

The company provides mental health services including exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD impacts about 2.3% of U.S. adults over their lifetimes, according to the National Institute of Mental Health’s website. That’s about 7.6 million Americans.

Cigna Ventures and 7wireVentures co-led the round. Existing investors Kaiser Permanente Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Eight Roads Capital and Health Enterprise Partners joined the round. New investor Longitude Capital joined as well, according to a news release.

On top of partnering with the venture arm of the health care conglomerate, NOCD has partnerships with Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) to provide virtual services to members.

“We remain focused on delivering best-in-class clinical outcomes and a frictionless member experience, we know that there’s a clear opportunity to scale our impact exponentially,” Stephen Smith, co-founder and CEO of NOCD, said in the release.

NOCD operates in all American states, completes 250,000 therapy sessions in a year, and averages a 35% reduction in OCD symptom severity, the release states.

Behavioral health tech companies, NOCD included, have seen a rise in popularity among major payors, favoring them for the relative ease of access they provide members and the potential cost efficiencies they provide.

Although digital behavioral health companies have caught payer attention, investor interest has been dwindling. Last year funding for behavioral health dropped by 56% from the previous year, according to a report by Rock Health.

“The status quo in mental health care has been failing patients for too long,” Alyssa Jaffee, partner at 7wireVentures, said in the release. “As the market leader in driving more convenient, affordable, and effective treatment for OCD and related conditions, NOCD is a prime example of the kind of innovation needed to solve some of the most complex issues in health care.”