Pear Therapeutics, a US-headquartered developer of digital therapeutics, has added $20m to a series D round backed by pharmaceutical firm Novartis and telecommunications and internet group SoftBank that now totals $100m.
An undisclosed US-based healthcare system provided an extra $20m, following an $80m close in December 2020 led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 that included Novartis, Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek and EDBI, an investment subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board.
The first tranche also featured 5AM Ventures, Arboretum Ventures, Jazz Venture Partners, Forth Management, Pilot House, Sarissa Capital, Shanda Group, CrimsoNox and Quad Investment Management.
Founded in 2013, Pear is developing software-based treatments for substance and opioid abuse as well as mental health disorders, severe insomnia and multiple sclerosis.
The company’s prescription digital therapeutics are administered through a mobile device and can be used in conjunction with medication or by themselves. The series D funding will support the expansion of patient access for its products.
Pear raised $64m in an early 2019 series C round led by Temasek and backed by Novartis, Arboretum Ventures, Jazz Venture Partners, Bridge Builders Collaborative, EDBI, Trustbridge Partners, Blue Water Life Science Fund and an unnamed hedge fund likely to have been CrimsoNox.
Temasek also led the company’s $50m series B round in 2018, investing alongside EDBI, 5AM Ventures, Arboretum Ventures and Bridge Builders Collaborative.
Arboretum Ventures, Jazz Venture Partners and existing backer 5AM Ventures had co-led a $20m series A round for Pear in 2016 that included Bridge Builders Collaborative and unnamed other investors.