Following a major rebrand earlier this year, Alachua, Florida-based Sero Mental Health is heading into 2026 with a keen focus on growth through de novo expansions, strategic M&A and building referral partnerships, led by its new chief growth officer, Daniel Krasner.

The company already has locations across seven states and much of its focus will be on expanding within existing markets, but Sero’s CEO Kristen Scheel told Behavioral Health Business it isn’t ruling out exploring new markets.

“In 2026, the growth will be focused on creating density with where we are today, to access more people, but then also, if a new market looks right and it’s the right fit for the organization, we’re going to continue to do acquisitions and some smaller acquisitions that just need some more infrastructure,” Scheel said. “I’d say all of those things will be part of our growth story for the next several years.” 

De novo growth specifically will be the primary driver of the company’s profitability and expansion over the next few years, Scheel said. 

“I really see our path being very de novo driven with the strategic, right acquisitions that make sense,” Scheel said. “Some of the things we’ve shifted are programs that historically weren’t in network are now in network, and we’ve made some strategic changes in order to keep our care high quality but also be able to open our doors to create more access for more patients.” 

Bringing on Krasner at a time of focused growth for Sero is a strategic move to concentrate expertise on business development and marketing, Scheel said. Prior to joining Sero Mental Health, Krasner was the chief marketing officer and held various leadership roles at Summit BHC for nearly 15 years.

The company has also rebuilt its finance and accounting teams and hopes the internal refinement will translate into its external strategies.

“I’d like to really build out an actual business development and digital marketing strategy to align us for 2026,” Krasner told BHB. “I think at a lot of organizations I’ve been part of or consulted with, that business development and marketing often becomes this category that things just fall into. And I think we have a great opportunity here to really loop business development operations into the overall system as inclusive with a lot of our growth plans.”

After a slower M&A market than anticipated in 2025 amid federal funding cuts, policy changes and other market headwinds in the behavioral health sector, as Sero Mental Health eyes growth for 2026, Krasner said the growth strategy is about more than size.

“I think there are also some specific growth opportunities around building stronger referral partnerships and pathways and strengthening our own continuum of care so that patients have clear paths through their care journeys,” he said.

Just since joining in early November, Krasner said Sero Mental Health has already been in discussions about potential deals that are not even on the market yet. It anticipates finding more opportunities that align with Sero’s growth strategy.

One year from now, Krasner hopes success will be marked by added beds, new facilities and “trusting the data that is coming through our systems” so that it can stay ahead even amid federal policy changes coming down the pipe.