Journey has acquired mental health startup Felt to bolster its employee assistance program

Employee-focused mental health company Journey has acquired Felt, a startup formerly known as Mine’d that specializes in matching individuals with therapists using artificial intelligence. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Journey, which offers mental health employee assistance software used by companies like Walgreens and Universal Music Group, says the acquisition aligns with its mission to revolutionize employee well-being and mental health support while harnessing the power of artificial intelligence.

Aaron Albert, co-founder and CEO of Felt, told TechCrunch that the startup’s acquisition is a natural evolution of its vision because it increases the company’s ability to make emotional health support not only accessible, but personal as well.

“Joining forces with Journey enables us to leverage our AI-based matching innovations on a broader scale, and reach more individuals through their extensive network,” Albert said. “It aligns perfectly with our core goal of making effective mental health support easier to access and revolutionizing the way people connect with compatible therapists.”

Felt’s technology leverages natural language processing and machine learning to analyze the factors that lead to a good pairing between user and therapist. The technology takes into account factors such as communication styles, personality traits, shared values, and more to predict compatibility. While Felt’s technology was initially designed for a consumer-facing application, it will be integrated into Journey’s back-end product.

Steven Sokoler, CEO and founder of Journey, told TechCrunch that Felt’s technology will be integrated into the company’s Proactive EAP platform. The company plans to pair Felt’s AI-based technology with its existing human-powered therapist pairing processes to better match employees with therapists. Employees who are part of the Journey platform are given access to master’s level clinicians who, after understanding the employee’s needs, will combine their expertise with Felt’s technology to find the perfect match.

The acquisition comes just over two years after Felt raised $3.5 million in a seed funding round led by Listening Venture.

Journey has raised $6 million in funding to date in multiple rounds before the pandemic, led by Canaan Partners, Courtside Ventures, Betaworks, BDMI, HealthTech Capital and others. The company says it has grown 800% since then and does not need or plan to raise additional capital.