Virtual behavioral health provider UpLift has announced a $10.7 million Series A funding round led by Ballast Point Ventures.

This brings the Tampa, Florida-based company’s total round to over $22 million. The company said the infusion of capital will fuel its expansion into additional states. It currently provides care in the District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia.

UpLift’s business model is focused on partnering with health insurance plans to provide their members with virtual psychotherapy and psychiatry services. It uses a team-based approach to care, delivering services to individuals along with couples and families. The startup works with several insurance partners, including Aetna, Cigna, CareFirst and UnitedHealthcare. 

“We’ll be using the funds to expand into several new states this year and lay the foundation for expansion into several others next year. We already have national contracts with the national payers, but part of expansion preparedness is partnering with the regional plans in a market. The funds are also allowing us to expand beyond just Commercial and Medicare into Medicaid,” Kyle Talcott, Founder & CEO, UpLift, said in an email to Behavioral Health Business.

“Lastly, we’re investing further in our clinical delivery platform to enable in-person care, more clinical decision intelligence throughout, and significant automations of back office processes, all of which will enable us to scale better quality care more efficiently.”

Patients can use the service to access therapy, psychiatric consultations and medication management.

The funding announcement coincides with the news that UpLift inked a new contract with managed Medicaid organization AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia.

“We are excited to join forces with UpLift to offer our members access to its extensive network of therapists and psychiatrists, increasing immediate access to critical behavioral health care services,” Karen Dale, market president and CEO of AmeriHealth Caritas D.C, said in a statement. “We will also leverage UpLift’s technology platform for many of our credentialed behavioral health providers to streamline onboarding, claims adjudication and quality of care.”

This news comes amid a funding slump for digital behavioral health companies. In 2022, digital health funding dropped by 53% from 2021, according to the data and research firm CB Insights.

Analysts have blamed the fundraising slowdown on macroeconomic factors, including inflation and an increase in central bank interest rates.

The funding slowdown is expected to continue through this year. Rock Health recently reported that digital health funding in 2023 is on track to dip to pre-pandemic levels.

Still, many virtual behavioral health companies have managed to raise during the economic downturn. For example, mental health tech benefits company Spring Health announced a $71 million funding round and hybrid care provider Octave announced a $52 million Series C.