A screenshot of Headspace’s meditation app. The company raised $93 million in equity and debt in February.
Headspace, a Santa Monica-based startup that developed a meditation app, raised $93 in equity and debt. The new cash will go toward its clinical validation efforts, as well as its business-to-business sales. Two years ago, Headspace announced it would seek FDA approval, with the hope of becoming the first “prescription meditation” app.
Headspace closed a $53 million series C round, led by blisce/, a New York-based venture capital firm created by French entrepreneur Alexandre Mars. Other new investors include Waverly Capital, Times Bridge and the Times Group of India’s global investments and partnerships arm.
In addition to that, Headspace raised $40 million in debt capital from Pacific Western Bank. The startup has raised more than $168 million to date, according to Crunchbase.
“Headspace has shown millions of people the power of using mindfulness to mitigate stress, anxiety, and other everyday issues, while continuing to advance the field through clinically-validated research,” Headspace Co-Founder and CEO Richard Pierson said in a news release. “As we think about the next ten years and beyond, we are focused on harnessing this power and applying it to other areas of our members’ lives to help them create healthy routines that last a lifetime – whether that is through our Headspace consumer app, the work we currently do with hundreds of employers, or with healthcare providers as we look to deliver better access.”
According to figures released by the company on Wednesday, Headspace has more than 2 million paid subscribers for its app and more than 600 corporate customers, including Adobe, Starbucks and GE. It currently works with 15% of Fortune 500 companies.
Headspace hopes to build out a larger share of that market with the new funding. The company said its business-to-business segment, Headspace for Work, saw its revenue double between 2018 and 2019. It is also expanding into other markets, launching versions of the app in other languages. A partnership with the Times of India will help fuel the company’s expansion in Asia.
Headspace hasn’t shared more details on its efforts to gain FDA approval, but the startup said it would continue to invest in its subsidiary, Headspace Health. When it created the subsidiary in 2018, Headspace said it hoped to secure FDA approval by 2020. The company still hasn’t confirmed which clinical indications it is pursuing.
According to ClinicalTrials.gov, Headspace’s app was used in a 1,000-person randomized clinical trial sponsored by Emory University to test the effects of meditation on pain management, narcotic use and emotional well-being. The study started in 2018, and its estimated completion date is April, 2020.
The company’s app was also listed in a 1,458-person trial led by the University of California San Francisco to measure meditation’s effects on work stress. Headspace was listed as a collaborator in the trial, which was expected to end in December. In total, Headspace said it has conducted more than 70 clinical studies with research partners including Carnegie Mellon, UCSF and Stanford University.
Photo credit: Headspace
