US-based on-demand mental healthcare provider Ginger received $50m yesterday in a series D round featuring Cigna Ventures and Kaiser Permanente Ventures, on behalf of health insurer Cigna and care consortium Kaiser Permanente.
The round was co-led by venture capital firms Advance Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) and included private investor Jeff Weiner and unnamed existing backers. David ibnAle from Advance and Steve Kraus from BVP will join Ginger’s board of directors.
Ginger has built a mobile app that gives users round-the-clock access to mental health resources including behavioural health coaches, therapists and psychiatrists, partnering health plans and employers to deliver its service.
The funding follows increased demand for Ginger, with requests for its therapy and psychiatry services having risen by 265% compared to the average prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cigna Ventures managing director Sahil Choudhry said: “At Cigna Ventures, we are committed to investing in bold, new ways to make high-quality healthcare simpler and more affordable.
“We believe that Ginger is well positioned to make this a reality in mental healthcare and look forward to supporting their efforts to expand access to this innovative model.”
The company said it has now secured more than $120m in funding altogether. WP Global Partners led its $35m series C round in September 2019, investing alongside Kaiser Permanente Ventures, City Light Capital, Nimble Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Kapor Capital and Weiner.
Kaiser Permanente Ventures may have also been a participant in Ginger’s $20m series B round in 2014. Its earlier investors include Khosla Ventures, True Ventures, Kapor Capital and Romulus Capital.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.
