Talkspace joins the red-hot digital health public offering roster: The telemental health startup inked a $1.4 billion deal to go public—setting itself up to be a fierce competitor to larger players in the telemental health market.
 |  |
Talkspace is going public in a $1.4 billion deal with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Hudson Executive Investment. We've seen fast-growing digital health companies pursue SPACs to take the public leap during the pandemic—these deals tend to close quickly and safeguard firms during periods of market volatility since they're not contingent on raising capital through other investors.
Talkspace's public offering adds a layer of validity to industry signs that telemental health is here to stay. The pandemic incited a wave of telemental health uptake as its impacts worsened patients' mental health: Nearly half of US adults said their mental health has been negatively impacted because of the pandemic, per a Kaiser Family Foundation poll. Talkspace itself saw its user base more than double from 2019 to 2020, growing 70% in May 2020 alone, and behavioral health startups are catching the eyes of investors, having scored $588 million in funding in just the first half of 2020—already far outpacing 2019's $539 million total, according to Rock Health.
This story appeared in a recent Digital Health Briefing, the subscriber-only daily newsletter from Insider Intelligence.
Try it for yourself for 7 days for just $1.*
|
Talkspace is in good shape to clock steady growth with the mindshare a public offering brings—and other players clawing at the growing telemental health market will have to bulk up their offerings to contend. As the first direct-to-consumer (D2C) telemental health startup to go public, Talkspace is ready to make big moves to multiply its user base and cast a wide net across international markets. In its expansion endeavors, the startup will already hit the ground running after its November 2020 acquisition of relationship counseling app Lasting. Less than a month after this purchase, speculation of Talkspace mulling a sale came to surface—and while we thought it would mean a telehealth giant eyeing to expand its telemental health footprint (like Amwell or Teladoc) would come and scoop up the successful mental health startup, Talkspace had other plans. Once situated on the public market, it could initiate an acquisition spree and secure partnerships that allow it to diversify further in 2021: For example, it could partner with a startup that offers digital therapy programs for mental health, like Happify Health.
For just $1, you can try the Briefing for yourself. You'll receive six of our newsletters in the next seven days to see the full depth of the actionable insights the Digital Health Briefing contains.
* At the conclusion of the trial, you will be charged the remaining $294 to reach the full amount of a $295 annual subscription. You may cancel at any time during the trial period. | | |
| |
| |
0 comments:
Post a Comment