UpLift – a behavioral health company – recently announced it had raised $10.7 million in Series A financing. The funding round was led by new investor Ballast Point Ventures, a late-stage venture capital, and growth equity fund with participation from Kapor Capital and Front Porch Ventures. The existing investors, including B Capital, also participated in the round. The latest raise takes UpLift’s total funding to over $22 million.
Launched in 2020, UpLift is a technology-driven, omnichannel behavioral health provider enabling whole-person and value-based care by integrating mental and physical health. UpLift partners with leading national and regional health insurance plans to deliver high-quality, virtual-first psychotherapy and psychiatry. Mental illness has been on the rise nationwide, now affecting nearly half of all Americans. Affordability remains the top issue because fewer than 30% of therapists accept insurance for payment. UpLift is critical in addressing this mental health crisis by providing access to insurance-based behavioral healthcare.
This new Series A funding round will expand access to UpLift’s team-based behavioral healthcare model, enabling thousands of behavioral healthcare providers to accept insurance payments for the first time and help patients match with the right team of providers based on their unique clinical and non-clinical needs. UpLift serves patients in the District of Columbia (D.C.), Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. The company will also use its Series A funding to expand into additional states.
The company has also contracted with AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia, (D.C.), a national leader in Medicaid managed care. And UpLift and AmeriHealth D.C. will collaborate to enroll new and existing network providers onto the UpLift platform, forming a high-performance network. This partnership will enable patients to efficiently find and receive high-quality care and enable network providers to deliver a seamless and effective patient experience.
KEY QUOTES:
“We have long been interested in investing in the behavioral health segment of the healthcare industry, especially as we saw access to mental health services become even more of a challenge during the pandemic. We are inspired by UpLift’s team-based approach to care, which combines therapy with psychiatry, and look forward to supporting Kyle Talcott and his impressive team on their mission to improve access to affordable care that patients can trust.”
— Matt Rice, Partner at Ballast Point Ventures
“At AmeriHealth Caritas D.C., we are committed to providing our members with access to quality healthcare and an outstanding member experience. We are excited to join forces with UpLift to offer our members access to its extensive network of therapists and psychiatrists, increasing immediate access to critical behavioral healthcare services. We will also leverage UpLift’s technology platform for many of our credentialed behavioral health providers to streamline onboarding, claims adjudication, and quality of care. With UpLift’s partnership, we look forward to improving access to behavioral health and better service our network of providers.”
— Karen M. Dale, Market President & CEO, AmeriHealth Caritas D.C.
“We are proud of the progress we’ve made to increase access to critical behavioral healthcare, and this Series A investment is a testament to our team’s hard work and commitment. We are also thrilled to partner with AmeriHealth Caritas D.C., which will allow us to help close the gap in access to behavioral healthcare for Medicaid members. This funding round, coupled with our new partnership enables us to positively impact the lives of many through affordable, accessible healthcare.”
— Kyle Talcott, founder and CEO of UpLift
“We were early investors in UpLift because we share their belief that technology plays a vital role in providing accessible, affordable behavioral healthcare services. We look forward to UpLift’s new chapter with AmeriHealth, who has a long history in serving at-risk populations, which will help advance UpLift’s mission.”
— Karen Page, General Partner at B Capital
