Circles, a New York-based health space platform, announced on Tuesday that it has secured $16.5M in a Series A funding round led by Zeev Ventures. Other investors, including Lior Ron, Head of Uber Freight, NFX, Flint Capital, and Sir Ronald Cohen, participated.
The US digital platform will use the funds to accelerate R&D efforts to improve group matching algorithms and expand its offerings.
“There’s something truly incredible that happens when people who are coping with similar challenges get together – and the better the match, the more powerful the group experience. With this new round of funding, we’ll strengthen our matching technology to match with more accuracy, increasing each group’s predisposition for success. This will bring us closer to our goal of making everyone, everywhere feel less alone,” says Irad Eichler, co-founder of Circles.
What do Circles solve?
Post-COVID pandemic, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression has increased by 25%. Consequently, people turn to mental health apps for their benefit in coping with mental health problems escalated by adverse life challenges.
According to Research and Markets report, the global mental health apps market size is forecast to reach $17.5B by 2030, at a CAGR of 16.5% from 2022 to 2030.
Further, group support has been proven to be an effective measure in coping with depression, lowering reported negative psychosocial outcomes, and improving overall physical and psychosocial health conditions of patients and their families.
Here’s where Circles come into play.
Emotional support platform
Founded by Irad Eichler and Dan Landa in 2020, Circles is an online emotional support platform that ensures no one has to cope with life’s challenges alone.
The subscription-based platform provides people experiencing similar life challenges like divorce, grief, infertility, etc, cohorts and meets weekly via group video chat to give and receive emotional support, guided by trained and vetted mental health professionals.
At present, the digital platform supports thousands of members across the US with hundreds of groups.
In the last half of 2021, the number of paying members has increased by 500%, with the company recruiting four times the amount of mental health professionals to facilitate the growing increase in the new groups.
Investor
Based out of California, Zeev Ventures is an early-stage venture fund that invests in technology, financial, e-commerce, and consumer service sectors.
“Circles is addressing a gap in the market with the powerful yet simple principle of human connection. Propelled by leadership with proven experience in successful social impact initiatives, Circles has positioned itself to be a market leader, pioneering accessible group support within the mental wellness space. I’m genuinely thrilled to be a part of this unique opportunity,” says Oren Zeev, of Zeev Ventures.
