Virtual mental health provider Uwill has acquired competitor Virtual Care Group.

Both companies had found a niche offering digital mental health services to college students, and now Uwill will leverage the Virtual Care Group’s business to accelerate its already aggressive growth trajectory.

Natick, Massachusetts-based Uwill announced the deal on Tuesday. The transaction adds 100 additional colleges to its list of clients. Post-deal, Uwill has arrangements with over 400 educational organizations that served over 3 million students in all 50 American states and 40 countries, according to a news release.

Increased access to mental health services through educational institutions has seen a marked rise in interest and investment in recent years — nearly all of which has focused on virtual mental health service providers such as Uwill. This has led to a glut of startups pursuing similar missions.

The fundamentals behind most of these ventures are compelling. Most mental illnesses manifest in late teen and early adult ages.

A review of dozens of surveys from all across the globe found the median ages for the initial onset of mental illness were 19 for males and 20 for females. Further, the steady worsening of American mental health has led to as many as 60% of college students meeting the criteria for at least one mental health condition. 

On top of all of that, colleges struggle to meet the demand for services, which makes institutes of higher learning a highly motivated partner.

“Through the integration of our extensive nationwide reach with Uwill’s focused technological investments, we aim to enhance the support and resources available to the students, faculty, and staff we are dedicated to serving,” Danny Zusman, founder and CEO of Virtual Care Group, said in the release.

Uwill, founded in 2020, uses a therapist-student matching system to optimize therapeutic alliances. It provides counseling, direct crisis connection, wellness and administrative support services.

The Virtual Care Group acquisition is Uwill’s second of the year. In January, Uwill announced it had acquired Lexington, Massachusetts-based Christie Campus Health.

It also partnered with the virtual mental health and meditation app Headspace Health in June to become Headspace’s exclusive college mental health partner.

Other providers that have taken a shot at serving college students include Regal Healthcare Capital Partners-backed Lightfully Behavioral Health, UpLift (which entered the game via M&A earlier this year), the collaborative care model-focused startup Bend Health and Mantra Health.

TimelyCare was marked as one of the fastest growing companies in the nation through its approach to virtual health care, including mental health services. It ranked 175 on the Inc. 5,000 list with 3,015% revenue growth.