Alma Raises $50M in Series C Funding to Help Therapists Meet Rising Demand for In-Network Mental Health Care
NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alma, a membership-based network for mental health care providers to build and scale their practices, has announced $50 million in Series C funding. The round is led by global private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners, with participation from Optum Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, Primary Venture Partners, Sound Ventures, BoxGroup and Rainfall Ventures. This investment brings the company's total funding to $90.5M and will fuel Alma's national expansion and support therapists across the country to offer affordable, in-network care.
Alma was founded to help therapists scale their practices to meet rising patient demand. By making it easy and financially rewarding to build and grow a private practice, Alma is increasing the number of high-quality providers offering in-network care and making it simpler for people to find a therapist they can afford. Alma's software platform offers insurance support, teletherapy software, automated billing, and scheduling tools to let therapists focus on providing care. Members also benefit from personalized client referrals and ongoing training and development. People can work with Alma's Client Matching team to find the right therapist that fits their needs, budget, and schedule, and also have access to Alma's online directory of clinicians.
"At Alma, we're building a new model for mental health care that puts therapists at the forefront of everything we do," said Alma founder and CEO Dr. Harry Ritter. "We can't talk about the $221 billion yearly mental health crisis without acknowledging the providers at the frontlines of this crisis. This past year we doubled down on tools and services to support our providers and scaled our insurance offering to make it easy and financially rewarding for providers to accept insurance. I'm proud to share that today 95 percent of our providers accept insurance, making the average in-network session incredibly affordable."
Hilary Gosher, managing director at Insight Partners and Alma board member, nodded to the company's impressive growth. "Insight's reinvestment in Alma speaks to our confidence in the company's trajectory and its modern, innovative approach to mental health care," said Gosher. "We're thrilled to support Alma in its ScaleUp stage of growth and look forward to advancing its mission to provide access to high-quality, affordable care, with frontline providers at the center of the strategy."
Over the past 18 months Alma expanded its insurance program - increasing the average number of monthly claims processed on the platform 30x over and building partnerships with some of the largest payers in the country. The company also invested in building out the tools in its provider platform to automate administrative tasks and improve the billing experience. By making it easier for providers to accept insurance and seamlessly transition their practices to teletherapy, Alma is making mental health care more accessible and affordable at a time when demand is soaring.
Over the past 12 months, Alma scaled its network of mental health providers to over 2,000 members and is growing its membership by 30-40 percent each quarter. While the mental health industry historically has not reflected the diversity of the U.S. - recent data from the APA reveals that 84 percent of mental health providers are white, compared to 60 percent of the general public - Alma is committed to building a community with diverse therapists from all backgrounds. Over 30 percent of Alma's providers identify as Black or Hispanic/LatinX and almost 10 percent identify as Asian.
A year and a half after the COVID-19 pandemic forced providers and clients to transition to teletherapy, Alma is continuing to see an interest in teletherapy. A recent survey of Alma's providers and clients found over 95 percent of providers intend to continue offering teletherapy. The survey found that the response to teletherapy has been overwhelmingly positive, with 91 percent of clients and 87 percent of providers saying their experience has been "good" or "great." Moving forward, 41 percent of Alma's providers plan to maintain an entirely virtual practice.
Key Hires
Alma grew its employee base 3x over the past year and expanded its leadership team, bringing on former Wayfair operations executive Laura Scott as Chief Operating Officer and insurance industry veteran Kate Mellor as Vice President of Payer Strategy. Alma also welcomed new advisors, including:
- Scott Serota, the former president and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, as an Advisor to work closely with the leadership team
- Lori Gottlieb, the psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author of "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone," joined the Clinical Advisory Board to mentor and coach Alma's providers
"Harry and the Alma team are building a new model for care that supports the clear and obvious needs for payers and other key industry stakeholders like employers and I'm thrilled to be on board as an advisor to guide this next phase of growth," said Scott Serota, the former president and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. "As Alma scales nationally, the company is enabling providers to offer high-quality, affordable care that drives positive outcomes."
Today, Alma is available in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. To learn more about Alma, visit: www.helloalma.com.
About Alma
Founded in 2017, Alma is on a mission to simplify access to high quality, affordable mental health care by giving providers the tools they need to build thriving private practices. Alma's membership platform enables providers to manage insurance, billing, scheduling, client referrals, and continuing education, enabling them to focus on what matters most: delivering care to clients. Named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies In Health, Alma's investors include Insight Partners, Optum Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, First Round Capital, Primary Venture Partners, Sound Ventures, BoxGroup, Rainfall Ventures, and Able Partners. Learn more at www.helloalma.com.
About Insight Partners
Insight Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight Partners has invested in more than 400 companies worldwide and has raised through a series of funds more than $30 billion in capital commitments. Insight's mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on software expertise to foster long-term success. Across its people and its portfolio, Insight encourages a culture around a belief that ScaleUp companies and growth create opportunity for all. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit www.insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.
SOURCE Alma
