Digital mental health company Mindstrong is laying off 128 employees and permanently closing its headquarters in Menlo Park, according to a California WARN notice.
According to reporting by Behavioral Health Business, the layoffs will include many of the company’s C-suite executives, including its CEO, chief technology officer and chief financial officer.
Mindstrong offered 24/7 virtual mental healthcare via video messaging, video calls or phone conversations. The company also offered coaching, psychiatric services and therapy via a mobile app. The company teams with payers to offer its services in-network.
At the end of January, the company announced in an email that it will no longer offer its patient services as of March 10.
Mindstrong did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
THE LARGER TREND
During the height of the pandemic, Mindstrong scored $100 million in Series C funding, bringing the company’s total raise to $160 million.
In September, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs named Mindstrong as a finalist in the Mission Daybreak Challenge, which would provide a $20 million grant to develop interventions to help prevent veteran suicide. The company’s chief clinical officer Dr. Holly Dubois discussed the challenge during a HIMSS TV interview in November.
Mindstrong was founded in 2014, but in 2017 former director of the National Institute of Mental Health Dr. Thomas Insel joined the team, taking on the title of cofounder in addition to president. Insel left Alphabet’s life science subsidiary Verily to join the startup.
At the time, Mindstrong focused on developing digital biomarkers that measure brain function based on patterns of interaction with a smartphone. It’s since transformed into a digital mental health platform.
Mindstrong is the latest in a string of health tech companies to announce layoffs over the past year.
In just the past month, Philips said it would cut 6,000 jobs worldwide by 2025; Verily announced a 15% reduction in its workforce; Cue Health let go of 388 employees; weight-loss startup Noom had its third round of layoffs in the past year; health data analytics startup Innovacer laid off 15% of its workforce; Teladoc Health laid off 300 employees; Carbon Health let go of over 200 people; and Akili Interactive, maker of video game-like digital therapeutics for children, cut 30% of its staff.
