73% of students experience a mental health crisis during college; 40% experience depression. Schools are not well equipped to handle the growing demand for students that are seeking counseling and treatment. The ratio of counselors to students is 1:1000-2000 for small to moderate-sized schools; 1:2000-3500 for larger universities. This lack of access is compounding the acute mental health crisis among students. Mantra Health is a digital mental healthcare clinic that works with universities and colleges to provide accessible services to their students. The telehealth platform provides 24/7 access to licensed psychiatrists and therapy providers in the Mantra network and a back-end platform that allows the university to refer and monitor their students’ cases, supported by a robust EHR system. Students can now access vetted providers in minutes rather than weeks without worrying about cost; payment is a blend of insurance and university-sponsored. Mantra is now live at 52 universities, making mental healthcare accessible to ~500K students.
AlleyWatch caught up with Mantra Health Cofounder and CEO Ed Gaussen to learn more about the state of mental health care in higher education, the founding story for the company, latest round of funding, which brings the total funding raised to $29.2M, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Thanks so much for having us! We closed a $22M Series A led by VGM Partners. The round includes new investors New Market Venture Partners, Elements Health Ventures, 14W, and Alumni Ventures. Returning investors included Canaan Partners, Global Founders Capital, Baleon Capital, Western Tech Investments, and City Light Capital.
Tell us about the product or service that Mantra Health offers.
Mantra Health is a digital mental healthcare clinic focused on young adults. We’ve built the most clinically-informed program that allows campuses to expand access to mental healthcare over telehealth. Mantra partners directly with on-campus counseling centers that are able to refer students to Mantra’s large, diverse provider group while remaining involved in the student’s care using Mantra’s Collaboration Portal. We’ve built a unique experience for students to match them with the right provider who they can see over evenings and weekends, and have the ability to message in between visits. Mantra is currently accessible to nearly 500,000 students across 52 campuses including Penn State, MIT, and Miami Dade College.
We also just announced our Insurance Referral Program for higher education to support both short-term episodic care and long-term mental healthcare needs for young adults. Typically, students who need long-term care are referred to community providers and face long waits, and worse, often drop out of treatment, when it’s most critical for them to be seen. Mantra’s Insurance Referral Program works with the student’s insurance as the payer instead of the school, giving student’s access to timely appointments at convenient times like at night and during weekends and their on-campus counselors have the option to collaborate with the Mantra providers through a Collaboration Portal to provide even better ongoing care for students.
What inspired the start of Mantra Health?
I had a sibling who dropped out of college because of mental health issues. I saw firsthand through that experience the chaos of finding an appropriate provider, the costs related to treatment, and so many gaps in the process of getting the right support. My cofounder, Matt Kennedy, also had a personal experience. He used a college counseling center when he was an undergrad after a traumatic event. He felt very fortunate that his school had sufficient access and he was able to see a counselor immediately and each week after that. Unfortunately, we realized that’s not the case for most students today. Higher education institutions are doing their best, but their current model of care is simply overwhelmed. It was out of this passion and deep curiosity around how to improve the status quo of mental healthcare for young adults that Matt, Ravi (Dr. Ravi Shah, Columbia Psychiatry’s Chief Innovation Officer), and I started Mantra Health in late 2018.
How is Mantra Health different?
There are multiple key differentiating factors in our model. Without going too much into the details, I would summarize it to our unparalleled clinical quality, our unique ecosystem of software products, and our ability to support insurance for continuity of care with patients.
What market does Mantra Health target and how big is it?
Our mission is to become the category leader in young adult behavioral health. Today, most of our revenue comes from partnerships with Higher Ed institutions. We work with schools of all shapes and sizes: private (e.g. MIT, Cornell, Bentley), public (e.g. Penn State, the University of Minnesota), and community colleges (e.g. Miami Dade College, St Petersburg College).
What’s your business model?
We partner with colleges and universities to understand their capacity needs for clinical care (therapy and/or psychiatry) which will affect our pricing. Appointments are covered for students by the school, and students have the ability to continue seeing their provider post-graduation through a self-pay model where Mantra can bill insurance.
What are your post-COVID office plans??
Right now, we have our headquarters set up in an office space in Soho, but we are embracing a hybrid model. We already have team members who are fully remote throughout the US. As we quadruple our team in the next 12 months, we’re looking to hire candidates that best fit our culture and the areas of expertise that will be critical to continuing to improve our product. We’re open to bringing on new team members who are based in NYC or are remote as long as they’re the right fit.
What was the funding process like?
Quite fast. We both come from the venture capital world, so we knew what it would take going into it. VMG Partners were very diligent and demonstrated real knowledge of the behavioral health space from the get-go. This makes the process much more enjoyable, they felt like a partner even before the round was closed.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Raising capital is a full-time job, and there’s an increasing amount of funds out there. So a major challenge is to continue to focus on the operations while fundraising. The key is to be selective and speak with funds you know have a pro-active thesis in your space. After, it’s crucial to run a tight process and work collaboratively with potential investors on their due diligence.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
There’s a perfect storm happening in the young adult mental health space if you combine the surge in demand led by the trauma caused by Covid, with the growing shortage in supply of providers. We’re going through a true crisis where suicide rates are at an all-time high. To solve that, we believe providers who take a population-centric approach and have demonstrated an ability to generate superior outcomes while building a moat around distribution will ultimately be successful. This is the thesis that our investors – and ourselves as founders – have underwritten.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
In the next six months, our goal is to triple the size of the team across all functions: go-to-market, product development, and clinical operations. We’ve already onboarded some outstanding senior people coming from leading EdTech and digital health companies. Other milestones include making clinical investments in our virtual provider group, continuing our expansion across all 50 states, and doubling down on insurance partnerships. We’ll also be continuing to invest in the future of mental health professionals through our Diversity Scholarship program to make sure all young adults in America have the mental support they need to succeed within their reach.
In the next six months, our goal is to triple the size of the team across all functions: go-to-market, product development, and clinical operations. We’ve already onboarded some outstanding senior people coming from leading EdTech and digital health companies. Other milestones include making clinical investments in our virtual provider group, continuing our expansion across all 50 states, and doubling down on insurance partnerships. We’ll also be continuing to invest in the future of mental health professionals through our Diversity Scholarship program to make sure all young adults in America have the mental support they need to succeed within their reach.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Build relationships with investors early, make sure you understand what it’ll take for them to get excited about your next round, and work hard to get there.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Over the next year or so, we’ll introduce new digital-first treatments for patients, new specialties within our provider group, and continue to expand our payment mix. Ultimately, Mantra will have a mental wellness pathway tailored to each student from the day they walk on campus to well after graduation.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC?
Cafe Select! I’m biased because I’m Swiss and it happens to be exactly halfway between our office and my place.
