Mental Health App Real raises $37 million Series B

Real, a mental health app, has raised $37 million in a Series B round that was significantly oversubscribed by investors. The venture, which was led by Owl Ventures and featured former Cityblock CEO Iyah Romm and chief health officer Dr. Sylvia Romm, was made possible by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Female Founders Fund, Forerunner Ventures, and BBG Ventures have all returned to the company in the past.

As a result, Real has raised a total of $53 million in funding since CEO Ariela Safira founded the company in 2019. Real was previously profiled by TechCrunch when it received its Series A funding earlier this year, and it continues to be so.

It is expected that the latest funding round will allow Real to expand its platform and provide more resources, therapists, and Pathways, the app's major feature that consists of complete therapist-created programs discussing mental health issues. Users can sign up for a monthly subscription starting at $13 per month.

Additionally, the organization creates materials for a variety of audiences, including LGBTQIA+ persons, immigrants, and people of color, among other groups. Real is employing its funds, according to Safira, to continue creating a diverse pool of therapists in the area. Consider the case of Real, which has hosted events that may be viewed live or on demand, and has covered topics such as "Opting Out of Explicitly Defending Oppression to the Oppressor."

Real's most distinguishing characteristic is its routes, which cover a wide range of issues such as relationships, anxiety, careers, stress, body image, and depression, amongst others. Each is made up of a number of sessions that include educational materials (for example, the Pathway about depression describes how it can present both emotionally and physically). Real's toolbox has a number of tasks that users are prompted to perform at the conclusion of each session. For example, the depression Pathway has journaling questions and breathing exercises, which are both available online.

For example, one of the most striking characteristics of Real is that each Pathway session takes two days to unlock. According to Safira, one of the most frequently requested enhancements is the elimination of the seven-day wait period between Pathway sessions, which is currently in place.

From a clinical standpoint, we feel that a two-day unlock time provides our members with the time and space necessary to practice the behavior change we are aiming for, while also ensuring their clinical safety.

"Real's clinical team, learning and design production team, and product development team have spent the last 15 months working together to develop, test, and iterate its Pathways in order to increase clinical efficacy and user retention," Safira says. During the employment process, each therapist is subjected to a background check, with an acceptance rate of 4.7 percent.

Furthermore, Real includes one of the most comprehensive mood monitors I've seen in a mental health software program to date. Real Pulse is a tool that tracks your motivation, anxiety, mood, energy, optimism, self-esteem, sense of purpose, thankfulness, belongingness, relationships, and overall productivity. Real Pulse users are urged to utilize the tool once a month in order to track changes in the course of their lives.

According to Safira, "this type of tracking allows people to have a more in-depth discourse about their mental health." In order to determine what individuals want, how they feel, and how to build the best mental health tracking experience possible, we reviewed feedback and conducted user interviews to develop the Real Pulse in conjunction with our users.

According to a prepared statement, Lightspeed Venture Partners partner Nicole Quinn said the company was pleased to increase its investment in Real's Series B fundraise. "As early believers in Ariela and Real's success, we're pleased to expand our participation in Real's Series B fundraise." In my capacity as a board member for the past year, I can attest to the fact that Real is one of the few companies in this sector that is founded on clinical research and leverages that data to inform the development of a really revolutionary care model.