Telepsychiatry provider Talkiatry has unveiled $130 million of new equity and debt financing to expand its model of value-based, virtual behavioral care.
The series C round was led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Perceptive Advisors, while the debt financing came by way of Banc of California. The company did not disclose the round’s split between equity and debt.
New York City-based Talkiatry’s model partners with payer and, increasingly, provider networks. It currently has in-network arrangements with over five dozen health plans, HCA Healthcare and other undisclosed providers.
Following an online assessment, the company’s platform connects patients to one of 300-plus board-certified psychiatrists for a virtual visit, which is usually scheduled within a five-day window.
For the partner organizations, Talkiatry touts stronger outcomes and reduced utilization of higher cost sources of care, such as emergency rooms. The company also offers its healthcare provider partners a system integration service that allows practitioners to refer patients within the electronic health record.
“Talkiatry has mainstreamed outcomes-based psychiatric healthcare and risk-based payment models,” Scott Kupor, managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said in a release. “The company has built a reputation for providing affordable, high-quality treatment for psychiatric patients while creating robust partnerships with a continually-expanding payer network.”
The company’s funding announcement highlighted a matched cohort analysis conducted by “a leading national health plan.” When compared against demographically similar patients who received behavioral care from other in-network providers, those who saw Talkiatry’s telepsychiatrists had a 68% lower rate of hospitalization, 32% fewer emergency room visits and about $700 lower monthly care costs.
Talkiatry has also published data in the Journal of Medical Internet Research showing clinically significant improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms among patients.
“Over the past few years we’ve built one of the country’s largest and highest-quality in-network psychiatric practices, while proving with real-world data that we deliver superior health outcomes and cost savings,” Robert Krayn, CEO and co-founder of Talkiatry, said in the company’s announcement. “We’re thrilled to be part of the a16z family as we continue to bring more health plans into value-based contracts and expand to reach more Americans in need.”
Talkiatry—which launched in 2020 and was named to Fierce Healthcare’s Fierce 15 in 2024—said it has provided over a million patient visits and raised $245 million to date. The company most recently closed a $75 million series B last September.