SoftBank Vision Fund 2 Backs Cerebral at $4.8 Billion Valuation

Kyle joins us on the phone from Miami. Kyle, how are you doing quite well? Thank thanks for having me Carol and Tim. Yeah, thanks so much for joining us. We'll take us into this most recent round of funding that that values the company at four point eight billion dollars um. How difficult was it to raise that capital? Yeah, that's you know, a really great question. I mean we

we actually weren't looking to raise capital, right. Um. You know, we're one stop shop for all things mental healthcare and we have a vision to fundamentally transform access to high quality mental healthcare SCAUP scale and our view is that all the companies in this space combined are barely scratching the surface of this overall market and this overall opportunity.

So while we didn't need to raise capital, um, you know, we were really aligned with soft banks vision that we can build something really sick here, and when they came to us to potentially partner, we were really excited about it and what it could be for the path forward

in terms of transforming access to high quality mental health care. Well, and take a step back for us, because I do feel like Kyle um, you know that the conversation around mental wellness mental health, even how we the words we used to describe it, it's no longer you know, oh, you know, kind of pushed to the side and we don't really talk about it. I feel like the pandemic has made it a much more um part of our conversation about our well being overall and the importance of

it and having access to the right care. How has that impacted what you guys are doing at s A. Yeah, I think I think the historical stigma around access to high quality mental health care has been really problematic. Right, Um, you have millions, really tens of millions of Americans who historically have suffered from mental health challenges and the vast majority of them haven't gotten the help that they deserved

and needed, right. And I think that the pandemic, coupled with a cultural shift and recognition that anyone can face mental health challenges and there shouldn't be a stigma around it has been really powerful. And so I think, you know Naomi Osaka, the famous tennis players, while Simone Biles is now our chief impact officer at Cerebral. UM coming out and saying, hey, you know, I'm not okay, right,

I can't continue doing this. And and seeing public figures like that say hey, it's okay to not be okay, and it's okay to get the help you deserve and need has been really really powerful UM from a de sigmentization perspective, and it's really a big part of our mission at Cerebral. Its destigmatizing access to high quality mental health care so that everyone will get the care they deserve a need. So we're really excited. Go ahead, No, And what I was curious about, So, Kyle, what's your approach?

I mean, we all know kind of the traditional proach I guess to getting UM mental mental care mental health care. What's your approach specifically, how is it different? Yes, I think for us, it's really about building the one stop shop for high quality mental healthcare. So whether you need you know, wellness, meditation, clinical care, whether that be medication management, therapy, counseling, being able to access that from home right via telemedicine

is really what Cerebral is fundamentally about. An unlocking supply of clinicians and lock stuff with demands such that we can take way times from traditional way times of two

three months to quite literally minute, right. So we have something called instant live visits where we're able to know exactly how many clinicians we need at a a given time, with what licenses, with what specialization, such that a client or consumer of behavioral healthcare can come on to Cerebral sign up and actually be seen by a licensed clinician within fifteen minutes. That's really unheard of. And go ahead, and Kyle, it's all telemedicine, right, Yes, so we're fully

telemedicine model. And um, this does a ton in terms of being able to unlock supply of clinicians and lockstoff with demand and driveway time. But what are the guardrails that are up because if if you're talking about prescribing medication as well, UM, what are the ways that you know you avoid abuse, because that's that's absolutely something that that can happen in situations like this. Yeah, I think I think one important thing to think about, right is

the distinction between telemedicine in person care, right. And I think historically there has been a bias against telemedicine in despite the facts that all of the clinical research support

that telemedicine outcomes are equal are actually better. UM and our chief medical officer, Dr David Moe Harvard Tain Psychiatrists actually recently published a white paper highlighting our outcomes and highlighting the fact that you know, outcomes as measured by symptom based rating scales like the PHQ, the GOD, the I s I are actually equal or better with telemedicine. UM. There absolutely need to be guardrails in place, and there

absolutely are for Cerebroll and other telemedicine organizations. But I think it's important this recognition supported by clinical research that telemedicine actually leads to equal or better outcomes and most importantly that are access to care. Yeah, you do wonder and I think this has certainly been one of the conversations that we've been having over the last eight nine twenty months about, you know, people who haven't been able to access mental health care and and that by going virtual,

it's really opened it up to a lot of people. Hey, um, Kyle, sit tight. We're going to come back and continue the conversation we have been talking with Kyle Robertson. He's the founder and CEO of Cerebral, and I will continue talking about it in their latest fundraise because what I do wonder too, is you know, what's the plans for growth Partnerships obviously a big part of what they are doing,

and they're growth going forward. I also got to ask about licensing, because this stuff is different on a state by state basis, So do you have to match potential patients with providers who are in that same area. It's a good question. But the idea about the guardrails, I think is really important because because you don't, you want to make sure people are being diagnosed correctly, and sometimes that is something that face to face can be really crucial.

All Right, We're gonna continue with him in just a moment. I want to get back to our guest still with us is Kyle Robertson. He's cerebral founder and CEO, and they are a mental health UM services start up and we are talking about them because our Jillian Tan wrote this great article about their valuation roughly quadrupling to four point eight million after raising three million in inequity funding around led by stopping Vision Fund. To Kyle, thanks for

staying with us. You're there in Miami, UM, we just want to ask you. First of all, Jillian's story has this great picture of you there with Simone Biles, Olympic gymnast, incredible UM athlete who walked away from the Olympics putting her mental health above her crust for gold. Uh. It really stood out and she you know, I think it created and sparked a lot of conversations. I know, certainly

for us in our newsroom. Talk us about the interactions and conversations you've had with her and understanding maybe as somebody who's running a company, but really understanding you know, what's involved and what's needed really by those who are trying to improve their mental well being. Absolutely, you know, I think I think Simone's voice when in Tokyo she said, I'm going to stop here, right, my mental health is

more important than gold medals. It was really powerful, right, It was really powerful for a lot of people, my elf included as the CEO of a mental health company. Right. I actually was sitting in the hospital bed this summer, um because I was suffering from a mersa pneumonia induction when I was watching the Olympics, and I my mental health was suffering, right, Being locked up in a hospital bed, right,

not knowing what was going to happen. And seeing her say, right, um, my mental health is more important here and I'm going to stop was so powerful for me. And I think when I saw that, and when our organization saw that,

we knew we had to partner with Simone, Right. We knew we had to partner with Simone to tell the world that taking care of your mental health is more important than anything, right, and that it needs to be prioritized, it needs to be distigmatized, and people need to get access to the care they deserve and meat and that's what our organization is all about. That's what the real

role is about. Um. So we're we're really excited to be partnered with Simone as our Chief Impact Officer and you know, even though we've only been working with her for a few months, she's had an incredible impact. I'm so curious about the relationships that you have with clinicians, with with providers, and how you're able to treat people in different parts of the country because there are there

is this patchwork of rules and regulations. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, doctor has to be licensed in a certain state. Correct, that's right. Yes, so there are licensing requirements, but one of the benefits of telemedicine is that particularly in rural areas where there's not a lot of access to high quality mental healthcare. Right. A small town in Appalachia may not even have a psychiatrist, right, Um, so we can get folks connected to the right level

of care for them. Does the clinician need a state license? Generally, the answer to that is yes. However, our clinicians are largely cross licensed across multiple states, so they may not have to sit in the same state that the patient that they're providing care to is sitting in, right, but

they do have to be licensed. That said, there isn't a movement today towards universal license are right, you know, we believe that it is a positive movement and that it would be good for society, right because it is a lot more efficient. Um. And there's no reason that with the proliferization of telemedicine that a clinician who's licensed in California but not licensed in New York or Georgia shouldn't be able to provide care to a patient. They're right,

So it's definitely something we believe in. But we do take advantage of licensing clinicians up in states that they're not physically nomstiled in. Today, Kyle, you have more than twenty three clinicians signed up according to Jillian's article that that she wrote about your fundraise. Are these clinicians working full time for cerebral Are they doing this as kind of a side hustle in addition to seeing patients in person, perhaps are using other telemedicine platforms. Yeah, clinicians to to

to clarify there, but um, absolutely, our clinicians are mixed. Um. So we have over clinicians across the country. They're a mix of you know, full time and part time. And that's intentional, right, because we want to meet the clinician where they're at and to be able to help them, UM fill in their schedules as needed. Right. Some clinicians want a part time situation right UM, where they can get supplementary income, where they can work from where they

want when they want. Some folks want to work part time in general, right. Others that you want to work full time via telemedicine. So. UM. In short, it's a variety. Our average clinician works over twenty clinical hours a week with us, so UM it tends to be fairly evolved with our clinicians. However, UM, there is a variety of structures. So where do you see it all going? Ultimately? I

know you've got partnering our partnerships with Signa and Anthem. UM. My understanding you know and just reading in for our time with you today, is that you are looking to be an in network resource for I think all insured Americans by the end of So what exactly do you mean and and how do you get there? And will you get there? Absolutely? So, I think that's an incredibly important question. UM. A year ago today, we were not in network with any of the insurance carriers, right. UM.

We launched with Signa in January. UM. We we now are working with Etna signa United Health Group Luecrosse with Shield Medicare, etcetera. Right, Um, And our vision to your point is to be in network with every help plan in every state such that regardless of your insurance carrier, regardless of your geography, regardless of your income level, regardless of your race, you can come to cerebrawl and get the care you deserve and need and it's affordable. It's

that convenient and it's high quality. Right. That's the vision for Cerebral, and we have the right team in place to to get us there. Unfortunately, I think regulators, clinicians, patients alike are recognizing the need for high quality care that enables patients to get the care they deserve, in need, when when they need it. Right. Um, So that's that's

what we're focused on in the organization. Yeah. No, um no, it's pretty you know, and it's really pretty astonishing everybody that you're you're hooking up with in terms of the health care system. We're talking with Kyle Robertson, chief executive officer at Cerebral, on the phone from Miami, and uh, this is certainly one of the big topics of the year. Hey, Kyle, UM,

help us understand what exactly do we have time? Actually, yeah, I want to make sure we have time for your coy um, do help us understand how you expand here geographically because the I know, you know, a big part of this is working in the United States and the patwork of regulation state by state. But how how do you have your eyes on international expansion? Really important question, right because mental health challenges don't discriminate by geography or nationality,

and unfortunately access is really challenging across the globe. Right. So we are in all fifty states of the United States and working with a variety of different health plans as well as government program in the US, but we recently launched in the United Kingdom right and one our first contract with the National Health Service there right UM. The idea being that by starting to work with single payer systems like the NHS, UM, you know, we have a roadmap to grow and expand in Europe right where

there are a lot of single payer systems. So in short, what I would say is that mental health access is a huge challenge, not just in the US but globally, and we absolutely have global ambition, which is why you know, within a year and a half of launching in the US. We launched our first international geography being in the UK. UM, So definitely a big priority across Europe, across Asia, across

South America, UM, and definitely a focus moving forward. Kyle, just got about thirty seconds left here the capital raises. What are you going to use the money for? It? Is the plan also to go public? Just quickly? Yeah, absolutely important question, you know. For us, it's about building the one stop shop for high quality mental healthcare. So that means all products, all conditions, so expanding into more wellness products like meditation, UM, expanding into new new conditions

like some use disorder like the freni end. Really being that one stop shop for pairs, consumers of behavioral health clinicians alike. That's a big focus for the fund raise, as well as continuing to expand our pair partnerships, expanding globally UM and and really leveraging data science more and more as we grow. All right, we'll have to get back to you about go in public if that's part

of it. To Gyle Robertson, chief executive officer, founder of Cerebral, joining us on the phone from Miami, this is Bloomberg