Italian therapist platform Unobravo has raised a €17m Series A as it looks to grow its product offering and expand internationally. The round was led by US VC heavyweight Insight Partners.

What does Unobravo do?

Unobravo was founded in 2019 and is a matchmaking platform that connects patients with therapists using an algorithm that’s trained on a patient questionnaire. It also provides a software platform for therapists to manage their practices, host video calls and coordinate one-to-one sessions.

The company says it has 2,000 therapists on its platform and has supported more than 40k patients through over half a million therapy sessions in Italy and Spain.

What’s next?

Unobravo says the next step is doubling down on its technology around the product, and has plans to release a mobile app in the near future. It is also developing new tools for therapists, like note-taking and practice management tools, educational resources, a patient community and further down the line, digital therapeutics.

The Italian startup launched in Spain at the beginning of 2022 and says it plans to continue to focus on European expansion over the coming few years.

Who’s investing in Unobravo?

Up until now, the startup has been largely bootstrapped aside from a £150k pre-seed raise in 2020.

Its Series A was led by US-based Insight Partners. 

There was also participation from Thomas Plantenga, CEO & founder at Vinted, Olivier Bonnet, CTO at BlaBlaCar, Rika Christanto, cofounder of Ontruck and currently COO of Idoven and a number of other angels.

The mental health market

Unobravo’s raise is the latest in a string of rounds for startups operating in the mental health space. In June, Spain’s Amelia Virtual Care — a VR platform for therapists to treat patients — raised €7m; employee mental health platform Moka.care raised €15m in May; and Berlin-based sleep and mindfulness app for kids Aumio picked up €3m the same month.

Telehealth providers have also been increasing their focus on mental health care segments. France’s Alan raised $183m in March following the launch of employee mental health platform Alan Mind, while Kry also increased its focus on the care segment ahead of its $160m raise announced today.

Sifted’s take

Plenty of startups have emerged in the mental health space in recent times, and last year Sifted counted as many as 79 mental health startups in Europe — not including major telehealth providers like Alan and Kry that have made mental health a big part of their larger offering. 

Funding for mental health startups also hit a record $1.5bn in Europe in 2021, according to Dealroom — triple what it was the year before — as investors began to wise up to the commercial opportunity amid rising consumer takeup and an increasingly favourable regulatory environment.

While there may be a lull in rounds in the sector during the second half of 2022 as investors tighten the purse strings ahead of an expected economic slowdown, the general consensus among VCs and founders is that healthtech is one of the “safer” industries to park cash.

Kai Nicol-Schwarz is a reporter at Sifted. He covers healthtech and community reporting, and tweets from @NicolSchwarzK.