Sword Health, a startup focused on helping people deal with pain through digital services, is expanding into mental health and has raised additional capital to fuel its growth.
The 10-year-old company is introducing Mind, which uses a combination of artificial intelligence, hardware and human mental health professionals to treat patients with mild depression and anxiety. Sword said Mind will help users access care whenever they need it, rather than during sporadic, hourlong appointments.
"It's really a breakthrough in terms of how we address mental health, and this is only possible because we have AI," Sword CEO Virgílio Bento told CNBC in an interview.
Also on Tuesday, Sword announced a $40 million funding round, led by General Catalyst, in a deal that values the company at $4 billion. The fresh cash will support Sword's efforts to grow through acquisitions, as well as its global expansion and AI model development, the company said.
The round included participation from Khosla Ventures, Comcast Ventures and other firms. Sword had raised a total of more than $450 million as of September, according to PitchBook.
The financing lands as the digital health market shows signs of recovery following a difficult post-Covid stretch, when rising inflation, higher interest rates and a return to in-person activities led to a dramatic retreat in the industry.
Earlier this month, Omada Health , which offers virtual care programs to supports patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, held its Nasdaq debut, though the stock is trading below its initial public offering price. Weeks before that, digital physical therapy provider Hinge Health hit the New York Stock Exchange. The shares are trading a few dollars above their offer price.
Sword, which was founded in Portugal and is now based in New York, offers tools for digital physical therapy, pelvic health and movement health to help patients manage pain from home and avoid other treatments such as opioids and surgery. Patients can sign up for Sword if it's supported by their employer or their health plan.
Mind users will receive a wrist wearable called the "M-band" that can measure environmental and physiological signals such as heart rate, sleep and the lighting in a user's environment. Mind also includes access to an AI Care agent and human mental health professionals, who can deliver services such as traditional talk therapy.
Bento said a human is always involved with a patient's care, and that AI is not making clinical decisions.
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