Mental health-focused AI startup clare&me secured €3.7M in funding

The Berlin-based startup clare&me recently shared it raised a €3.7 million funding round led by YZR and supported by additional investors including Kodori Ventures, Material Ventures, existing angel investors, and Antler. In addition to the funding round, the startup has received grant funding from the IBB (Development Bank of Berlin), European funds, and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

The recently raised funds will enable clare&me to continue the development of its two offerings, a self-help chatbot available through phone and WhatsApp, and an assistant that supports clinics and professionals by automating intake assessments via telephone and SMS. Both products are powered by the company's empathetic language model, trained with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles, mindfulness self-compassion, resilience training, and positive psychology techniques. To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the personal self-help assistant, clare&me is performing a clinical trial in partnership with Charité – Berlin University Medicine.

The free tier of the clare&me personal self-help chatbot offers limited calls, SMS, and WhatsApp messaging between 9:00 and 17:00. Subscribers to the £99.99/yr can contact the chatbot anytime and have access to in-depth behavioral health support.

The idea that AI can contribute to mental health treatment and support is not unique to clare&me. The US-based Feeling Great app recently launched with $8 million in seed funding to support users' mental health through interactive courses about mental health and emotion management and an empathic chatbot that can provide individualized check-ins and guidance to practice techniques that reduce negative emotions.