Two Chairs and SonderMind have announced landmark expansions of their respective market footprints.

The two venture capital-backed outpatient mental health companies have raised tens of millions of dollars to establish tech-enabled in-person and virtual operations, all within a broader, years-long movement of investor-driven expansion, consolidation and business infrastructure investment.

On Tuesday, Denver-based SonderMind announced it now has operations in all 50 states and Washington D.C. This expansion comes rapidly on the heels of the company’s announcement that it was operating in 48 states and the District of Columbia in December 2024. The addition of New York and Michigan operations filled in the holes on the SonderMind market map.

SonderMind contracts with mental health clinicians — including therapists and psychiatrists — and supports them with AI tools within its own practice management system. Its clinician workforce includes 12,000 contracted providers. It has about 300 full-time employees.

“The ultimate mental health solution requires more than just access — it demands a comprehensive, integrated, and personalized approach that evolves with individuals’ needs,” Frank Mark, CEO and co-founder of SonderMind, said in a statement.

The company tailors care, tracks care progress, matches patients to therapists and provides between-visit support with its technology, which includes a name-branded app and its AI systems.

SonderMind has hauled in a healthy bit of investor funding. In documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SonderMind reported in October 2021 that it raised $242 million in an equity-only round. Similar documents show the company has reported raising $275 million in debt and equity financing.

About a year ago, Two Chair announced that it raised $72 million, bringing its total funding secured to about $103 million.

The company offers a hybrid in-person and virtual care model that is delivered by staff therapists. Founded in 2017, the company leans heavily into measurement-based care and uses its data to secure value-based care and similar payment arrangements with payers.

Last week, Two Chairs announced that it had expanded to 19 new state markets, making its services practically accessible to 75% of the American population. Some of the new markets include some of the nation’s most populous states — Texas, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Michigan. It expects to be “live” in 22 states by June 2025, according to a statement released by the company.

Once completed, this expansion will represent a 633% increase in the geographic reach of Two Chairs.

“Simply providing access to mental health care isn’t enough—what truly matters is whether people actually get better,” Alex Katz, founder and CEO of Two Chairs, said in a news release. “That’s why we have been deliberate in building a model that delivers real results first before expanding. We made sure our therapists are supported, our matching system connects patients with the right clinicians, and our measurement-based care approach drives better outcomes.

“Now, we’re ready to bring that same high-quality care to more states across the country.”

Two Chairs will establish virtual clinical offerings in expansion states first. As those practices grow, the company will follow up with in-person clinics where the opportunity arises.

Outpatient mental health continues to be a subsector within behavioral health that is seeing a lot of activity on several fronts.

Katz told me during a BHB+ TALKS session that the outpatient mental health world was turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the accompanying change of attitudes toward therapy and mental health generally — on top of a tsunami of funding — has accelerated the development of outpatient mental health as an industry, forcing provider organizations to ever higher levels of sophistication and strategic savvy to keep up with increased demand and competition.

It is also the one area of behavioral health that hasn’t seen a steep decline in dealmaking, including investment and M&A. It was the only one of two areas within behavioral health — the other being autism therapy — that saw an increase in deal activity in 2024, according to data provided by The Braff Group.

However, the ability for investors and acquiring companies to grow by M&A is limited. Most of the most obvious acquisition targets are already part of a larger company.

“If there were double the number of companies in the mental health space, you would see a significant increase in the number of transactions in the space,” Steve Garbon, managing director at The Braff Group, said during a presentation at VALUE 2025.