Pear Therapeutics, a Boston startup aiming to treat addiction and insomnia with its software, announced Wednesday that it closed on an $80 million Series D round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.
Chronic insomnia and substance abuse are prolific problems in the United States, affecting tens of millions of people. And experts say these diseases are on the rise even more as the pandemic wreaks havoc on the country’s collective mental health.
Pear Therapeutics uses its prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) to tackle this problem either on its own or in combination with medication. Its three different apps — reSET, reSET-O and Somryst — provide lessons and a place where patients can discuss their triggers and progress, as well as a dashboard clinicians can use to monitor patients’ health. The company also recently launched its PearConnect feature to allow patients to connect with doctors virtually.
The company’s two substance abuse platforms, reSET and reSET-O, were the first PDTs ever to receive market authorization by the Food and Drug Administration, and its insomnia platform Somryst was also authorized this year, perhaps an indication that the tides of psychiatry are turning toward digitization.
“We believe prescription digital therapeutics are creating a new category of medicine,” Kirthiga Reddy of SoftBank Investment Advisors said in a statement. “Pear Therapeutics has combined biology and software to pioneer the first end-to-end platform for prescription digital products, with an initial focus on serious psychiatric diseases. We’re pleased to support Pear’s mission to create the next generation of therapeutics and deliver better patient outcomes.”
Pear Therapeutics’ CEO and President Dr. Corey McCann says this oversubscribed funding round will allow the company to continue to invest in its three existing platforms and bring them to the general public, with the goal of pioneering the PDT space.
In addition to the funding, Pear Therapeutics announced former Henry Ford Health System CEO and current Walgreens Boots Alliance board director Nancy Schlichting and SoftBank investor Elena Viboch will be joining its board of directors.
“It is a privilege to join Pear at this exciting time,” Schlichting said in a statement. “Prescription digital therapeutics have the potential to change healthcare in many profound ways. Using technology to treat serious disease is an idea whose time has come, and I am proud to pioneer this new space with Pear and with SoftBank Investment Advisers.”
