Virtual mental health company Tava Health recently secured $16 million in fundraising, according to SEC filings. The company is seeking another $4 million to button up the funding round. 

Salt Lake City, Utah-based Tava partners with employers to provide virtual, evidence-based mental health care to employees. Tava has worked with companies including Chatbooks, Lucid Software and Health Catalyst and accepts insurance from networks including BlueCross BlueShield, Humana and United Healthcare.

Tava claims to be different from an employee assistance program (EAP) because of its increased accessibility. Patients can access care quicker and more efficiently than traditional EAPs, resulting in patients utilizing care 12 times more often, according to the company.

While traditional EAPs focus on short-term interventions, Tava also offers ongoing support for persistent mental health issues.

Therapists in every US state use Tava’s free, tech-enabled platform, which matches patients and independent clinicians.

The company was founded in 2019 by its current CEO, Dallen Allred, and chief technology officer, Spencer Gardner. Peterson Ventures led its $3 million seed funding round. 

Tava previously raised $10 million in series A funding in 2021, led by Rose Park Advisors. 

“Tava Health is disrupting the old model of in-person, clinic-only mental health services,” Matthew Christensen, CEO and Managing Partner at Rose Park Advisors, said in a statement regarding the previous funding round. 

Tava’s cash infusion follows a quarter marked by sluggish investment deals in the digital heath care space.

Investors executed 119 digital health care deals in Q3 2023, totalling $2.5 billion, according to Rock Health. The quarter was the second-lowest for the industry since 2019.

Despite slower performance in the digital health care space overall, digital behavioral health investment remained relatively strong and saw some major deals cross the finish line. 

Substance use disorder startup PursueCare raised $20 million in series B funding in December 2023 and also announced the acquisition of technology created by now-defunct digital pioneer Pear Therapeutics. 

Behavioral health companies Integrative Life Network LLC and Integrative Health Centers Inc. merged to form Peregrine Health in recent weeks. The new company, which offers telehealth and in-person care, secured $7 million in funding. 

Digital alcohol use reduction platform Sunnyside raised $11.5 million in November 2023, led by Motley Fool Ventures.

“We think that there will be successful investments and some consolidation of that sector in the next couple of years, even though there have been bumps in the road,” Christian Chauvet, a partner at Lee Equity, said at BHB’s INVEST conference.