AbleTo plans expansion of mental health platform
AbleTo, a healthcare company that uses technology to help people who identify themselves as depressed or suffering from anxiety or stress, has raised $36.6m in a series D round to expand its treatment platform. AbleTo CEO Rob Rebak said that the company wants to continue to validate its approach through clinical research in areas such as depression, anxiety and diabetes, and explore how its platform can help patients newly diagnosed with chronic conditions and with the range of emotions that diagnosis can produce. Bain Capital Ventures led the latest funding round alongside Aetna Ventures. To date, AbleTo has raised $57.4m.

AbleTo, a healthcare business working with self-insured employers and health plans to use technology to help people who identify themselves as depressed or coping with anxiety or stress, has closed a $36.6 million Series D round. The fundraise is intended to expand the company’s customer base.

To date, AbleTo has raised $57.4 million.

Bain Capital Ventures led the round with Aetna Ventures. Existing ventures, such as .406 Ventures, Sandbox Industries, HLM Venture Partners, and Horizon Healthcare Services, also took part. Aetna has been an AbleTo customer since 2011.

Here’s how it works. Plan members take a questionnaire to assess their level of need, if any. They are matched with a behavioral health coach and a therapist through a phone or video chat. Goals are set as part of an eight-week personalized program.

AbleTo’s argument for employers is that its approach to behavioral health can boost work performance. A study with Aetna focusing on members with cardiovascular disease with depression found that graduates of AbleTo’s program had a 61 percent drop in absenteeism and a 44 percent decline in people working while sick between October 2015 through May 2016.

Earlier this year, AbleTo CEO Rob Rebak said that it wants to continue to validate its approach through clinical research in areas such as depression, anxiety and diabetes. It also has plans to explore how its technology platform can be applied to areas such as patients newly diagnosed with a chronic condition and the range of emotions that diagnosis can produce.

Another priority for AbleTo is adding telepsychiatry services to its platform.

“We are finding that 20 percent to 30 percent of our patients also have a need for some form of a telepsychiatry consult,” Rebak said. The idea is to better balance the services AbleTo provides its customers.

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