Today, I’m excited to announce our $72 million Series C funding round. This raise is a big step forward for our mission to build a world where we all have access to exceptional mental health care.
Naturally, this is a moment for me to reflect — to celebrate how far we’ve come since our founding in 2017 and to honor all of the people we’ve been able to help. But it’s also an opportunity to consider how much remains to be done — and how Two Chairs is uniquely positioned to take on that challenge.
The problem we’re solving
It’s still far too difficult to find the right, high-quality mental health care in this country.
I saw this clearly more than eight years ago, when my partner ended up in therapy with a clinician who wasn’t right for her. She learned the hard way that effective therapy is dependent on working with a therapist with whom you have a strong relationship, and it turns out the psychotherapy research literature has demonstrated this again and again. The therapeutic alliance is by far the best predictor of outcomes in care. My partner’s experience prompted me to begin the journey toward founding Two Chairs, and the challenge of finding the right therapist is still just as prevalent today — even with all of the growth we've seen in our industry.
Our mental health industry has, of course, made progress recently. We’ve seen stigma around mental health conditions and therapy subside, and telehealth has removed many barriers to getting started with a clinician. But while more people are seeking out mental health care than ever before, we’ve all seen headline after headline pointing to the fact that our collective mental health is getting worse.
It turns out access to care is necessary — but not sufficient — to deliver on the outcomes patients deserve. To do that, we need a mental health system that consistently matches patients to the right provider for them. We need a mental health system that measures care and then utilizes that data to make the right care decisions and get patients to better outcomes, faster. And we need a mental health system that better supports therapists — the backbone of mental health care — to do great clinical work sustainably.
The progress we’ve made
Over the last seven years, we’ve built that system at Two Chairs.
Our patient outcomes lead the industry. Thanks to a combination of clinical expertise and a proprietary matching algorithm, 97% of our patients agree that the alliance with their therapist is strong. The alliance is foundational to a successful care journey, and it results in patients sticking with therapy and getting better. At Two Chairs, 90% of our patients are retained through at least the fourth session (compared to 36% in a typical health system). And with our investments in patient outcomes, at graduation, 74% show clinically meaningful improvement — a rigorous standard we’ve developed to report on outcomes.
Years ago, we made a bet that investing in therapists was a critical component of quality care. That bet has paid off, with 9 in 10 of our therapists recommending Two Chairs as a great place to work. We’ve built a W-2 employment model designed to provide financial stability and support, which together enable therapists to thrive. To meet the needs of a diverse population, and to achieve our mission, we’ve paid special attention to the diversity of our clinical staff, with 46% of our therapists identifying as BIPOC, 24% identifying as LGBTQIA+, and 16% as multilingual. We provide specialized consultation groups, an APA-accredited clinical development program, training in culturally responsive treatment, and stipends for outside learning. Ultimately, Two Chairs therapists are embedded in the fabric of the company because we’ve built this business with them.
How we’ll continue to scale with quality
Building a model for patients and therapists that actually works isn’t easy.
With so many lives in our hands, we’ve taken our time to build a model that truly delivers at every key moment along the patient journey. We know that our emphasis on thoughtful growth hasn’t been shared by all of our peers in digital health. We watched as too many companies prioritized a “growth at all cost” mindset, which often happens at the expense of a focus on care quality, clinician experience, and industry regulation.
We’re proud of the approach we’ve taken. Our persistent focus on quality on behalf of our patients and therapists has continued to pay off. We’ve built the highest-quality psychotherapy model in the country at scale, and we’re ready to bring our clinical model to many more people all across the U.S. in the coming years. This new funding gives us the ability to continue expanding into new markets with new and existing partners. It also enables us to continue investing in the technology and clinical programs necessary to ensure exceptional quality.
Scaling with quality is hard. What gives me confidence in our ability to succeed is our team. I might be biased, but I believe we’ve built the best team in mental health. We’ve built a culture that seamlessly blends the clinical and technology worlds and has consistently enabled us to innovate on care delivery.
We’re too damn committed to our mission to cut corners when it comes to client outcomes or our clinician experience. We have so much left to do to build the mental health system our country deserves. But we’re up for the task — let’s keep building.
