Mantra Health: A Startup Case Study – Empowering College Students with Accessible Mental Healthcare

The topic of mental health has recently become very hot. If we zoom in on students’ mental health and look at the stats from 2024, we’ll see that:

• 35% were diagnosed with anxiety.
• 25% had depression.
• 20% experienced serious psychological distress.

Among the most common reasons for these dire statistics are social networks, competition with one another (both academic and social), and the high expectations of success that parents and students place on themselves.

But it’s not all woes; there’s a company that has stepped in to cater to students’ mental health and reduce dropout rates.

Mantra Health

Mantra Health is a mental healthcare startup dedicated to providing specialized telehealth solutions to college and university students. Their platform integrates with existing campus resources to deliver accessible, affordable, and convenient services.

Company Status: Active

Founding Year: 2018

Headquarters: New York, NY, United States

Industry: Health Care and Social Assistance

Business Model

Mantra Health operates as a B2B2C, one-sided, service model:

• Clients: Colleges and Universities seeking to enhance their mental health services and support student well-being.
• Suppliers: Mental health providers such as therapists and psychiatrists.

It’s Like Ginger or Lyra Health, but for College Students

Mantra Health provides accessible and specialized mental healthcare similar to these established telehealth platforms, but specializes on the needs of higher education students.

Similarities

All offer virtual therapy, psychiatry, and wellness resources through a digital platform, emphasizing convenience and accessibility.

Differences

Mantra Health tailors its services to the unique challenges faced by college students, partnering directly with universities to integrate its services with existing mental health resources. It offers specialized programs, including 24/7 crisis support through ConnectNow, as well as support for students studying abroad.

Key Problems in Higher Education Mental Health

• Inadequate Mental Health Services: Many college campuses lack sufficient mental health resources to meet the growing demand from students.
• Accessibility Barriers: Traditional mental health services can be difficult for students to access due to long wait times, inconvenient hours, and stigma surrounding mental health.
• High Drop-Out Rates: Untreated mental health issues contribute to student drop-out rates, impacting both individual success and university retention rates.
• Unique Student Needs: College students face specific stressors and challenges that necessitate specialized support, including academic pressure, social anxiety, and adjusting to life away from home.

Mantra Health’s Solutions

• Comprehensive Mental Health Services: Mantra Health provides a wide range of services through its platform, including therapy, psychiatry, crisis support, wellness content, peer support, and coaching.
• Improved Accessibility: Students can access services 24/7 through a user-friendly app, offering flexibility and convenience.
• Integrated Support: Mantra Health partners with universities to integrate its services with existing campus resources, ensuring continuity of care and streamlined referrals.
• Specialized Programs: The company offers tailored programs such as ConnectNow, providing 24/7 crisis support and global student support for those studying abroad.
• Focus on Prevention and Wellness: Mantra Health provides resources and programs that promote mental well-being and help students develop coping mechanisms.

Founding Story

• Problem Inspiration: Mantra Health was founded in 2018 to address the growing mental health crisis on college campuses. The founders recognized the need for more accessible, affordable, and convenient mental health services for students.
• Founders and their Motivation: The company was co-founded by Edouard (Ed) Gaussen, Matt Kennedy, and Ravi N Shah, MD.

Ed Gaussen witnessed a family member struggle significantly to access quality mental healthcare, ultimately leading to them dropping out of college. This experience highlighted the frictions and inadequacies in the existing care system for young adults, fueling the conviction that a technologically enhanced, more integrated solution was necessary.

• Founders Experience: 
  • Ed Gaussen possessed experience in venture capital (White Star Capital) and tech growth (Tinder), holding a BSc from McGill University.
  • Matt Kennedy also came from a venture capital background (Northzone) and held strategy and operations roles at major tech companies including Google, Responsys, and Oracle.
  • Dr. Ravi N. Shah possesses deep clinical and academic credentials as a psychiatrist affiliated with Columbia University, holding an MD/MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, and served as Medical Director for Columbia’s Psychiatry Faculty Practice.

Their complementary expertise, blending startup/VC strategy and clinical knowledge, shaped Mantra’s approach to building a scalable health-tech solution within the complex higher education healthcare environment.

• Early Solution and Growth: Mantra Health gained traction by partnering with higher education institutions to provide their students with access to the platform. The company’s comprehensive suite of services and its focus on student well-being have made it a popular choice for colleges and universities looking to improve their mental health offerings.
• Technology and Innovation: Mantra Health utilizes technology to make mental healthcare more accessible, convenient, and affordable for students. They offer an integrated platform, focus on student needs, and collaborate closely with institutions.
• Challenges and First Results: In its first two years, Mantra Health faced key challenges, including securing early funding while scaling operations, rapidly expanding telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic, and navigating multi-state licensing and insurance integration. Despite these hurdles, the company launched its platform in Fall 2020, had partnered with 26 campuses by 2021, and raised $22 million in Series A funding by early 2022. It also gained national recognition, becoming the NAIA’s official mental health provider and earning a spot on the NYC Digital Health 100 list. These milestones marked strong early momentum in transforming college mental health care.

Key Growth Milestones

• 2018: Founding of Mantra Health.
• 2019: Secured $3.2 million in seed funding
• 2020: 360% increase in inbound leads from the spring semester to the fall semester due to COVID-19
• 2021: Raised an additional $2 million in seed funding and partnered with about 26 Universities and Colleges, including Pennsylvania State University, Moravian College, and St. John’s University.
• 2024: Partners with over 125 colleges and university campuses, serving a student base exceeding 900,000 in 50 states.

Market & Competition

Target Market

• Higher Education Institutions: Mantra Health partners with over 125 colleges and universities across the U.S.
• Student Population: The company’s services are designed for undergraduate and graduate students.
  • They have a student base exceeding 900,000.
  • This number continues to increase as more universities and colleges adopt mental health care for their students.
• Potential New Markets:
  • Elementary and High School: Mantra Health can extend its services to elementary and high schools. This will increase awareness of mental health challenges and also address them earlier.
  • Corporate Wellness: Since companies often struggle with employee turnover, Mantra Health could expand into mental health platforms for company employees to enhance productivity and reduce turnover.

Competitor Landscape

Mantra Health operates in the competitive digital mental health market, particularly within the higher education sector.

Key competitors include:

• TimelyCare (formerly TimelyMD): Offers a broad range of virtual medical and mental health services including 24/7 support, counseling, psychiatry, and crisis care.
• Uwill: Provides immediate teletherapy access crisis support, telepsychiatry, and wellness programming.
• BetterMynd: Offers online counseling, psychiatry, a 24/7 support line, and psychoeducational workshops for college students.
• Neolth: Offers mental health support for students through a mobile app with on-demand care and stress management tools.
• Modern Health: Provides a platform for employee mental health services, including therapy and resources.
• Classroom Clinic: Focuses on school-based telehealth for mental health, offering services such as psychiatric evaluations and therapy.

Marketing & Sales

Main Positioning Values: Quality & Variety

Website & Socials

• Website: https://mantrahealth.com
• Monthly Visits: Approximately 31,706. Mantra Health’s website sees most of its traffic coming from direct visits, indicating solid brand recognition.
• Traffic Sources: Direct visits account for 67%, organic visits for 28%, referrals for 4.6%, social networks for 0.56%, and ads at a minimal share. This distribution indicates that search engine optimization and direct brand interaction play significant roles in their online presence.
• Top Countries: The majority of traffic (~97.55%) is from the United States, with small proportions coming from India (~1.12%), Spain (~0.79%), and France (~0.53%). This indicates a primary focus on the U.S. market with marginal international involvement.
• Traffic from Social Media: Social media contributes a small fraction of overall traffic, indicating an opportunity for further engagement strategies through popular platforms.

Media Coverage

• Funding rounds: funding rounds have been covered by several media outlets including, Mantra Health’s PRN Newswire, MedCity News, and Fierce Healthcare.
• Interviews: Mantra Health co-founder, Ed Gaussen has been interwied on Vator News, and TechNYC where her discussed the reason for starting the company and the lessons he has gained as an entrepreneur.
• Partnership: The brand has partnered with several organisations including Togetherall, Charlie Health, Single Stop, and insurance carriers such as UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna.
• Mantra Health has been discussed on sevral other platforms including Diverse, Authority Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and LeadIQ.

Marketing Strategies

• Target Audience: Mantra Health primarily targets college and university students, recognizing the unique mental health challenges they face. Their website specifically mentions serving the “entire student body,” including underserved populations.
• B2B2C Model: They utilize a B2B2C (business-to-business-to-consumer) approach, partnering directly with higher education institutions and health insurance plans to reach students. This allows them to integrate their services into existing campus support systems.
• Partnerships: Mantra Health establishes partnerships with colleges and universities, integrating their services into existing healthcare systems on campuses. They highlight being “EAB’s Strategic Mental Health and Wellness Partner” on their website.
• Content Marketing: They maintain a blog with articles on topics such as mental health conversations, crisis prevention, and supporting neurodivergent students. This positions them as a thought leader and resource for their target audience.
• Digital Marketing: The brand’s website traffic sources indicate a focus on direct and organic traffic, suggesting SEO and brand awareness initiatives. They also utilize social media, though it represents a smaller portion of their traffic.
• Value Proposition: Mantra Health emphasizes comprehensive care, highlighting their 24/7 support, diverse provider network, and solutions tailored to various needs, including therapy, psychiatry, crisis support, and wellness programs. They also emphasize proven results, citing that 70% of at-risk students showed improvement, which could appeal to institutions concerned about student retention.

Product & Innovation

Stepped-Care Model

Mantra Health’s platform employs a stepped-care approach, ensuring students receive the appropriate level of care based on their individual needs, ranging from preventative wellness resources to specialized interventions.

Collaboration Portal

The company developed a proprietary Collaboration Portal that facilitates communication and coordination between Mantra Health providers and university staff, streamlining referrals and ensuring continuity of care.

Focus on Higher Education

Mantra Health differentiates itself by specializing in the higher education market, tailoring its services and technology to address the unique challenges faced by college students.

Data-Driven Insights

Mantra Health’s platform collects and analyzes data on student utilization and outcomes, providing valuable insights that can inform program development and improve the effectiveness of mental health services.

Financials & Metrics

• Funding and Investments: Mantra Health has raised over $30 million in funding over multiple rounds. This includes:
  • 2018: Seed round, raised $3.2 million.
  • 2021: Debt financing, secured $2 million
  • 2021: Seed extension, raised an additional $2 million, increasing the total seed funding to $5.2 million.
  • 2022: Series A, raised $22 million
  • 2023: Series A extension, raised an additional $5 million, increasing the total Series A to $27 million.
• Employee Count: Mantra Health has an estimated employee count ranging between 51-200.
• Revenue Sources: Recurring contracts from University & College contracts is the core source of Mantra’s revenue. These institutional partnerships grant students access to teletherapy, telepsychiatry, crisis care, wellness coaching, and school health integration.  Additional revenue sources include:
  • Insurance Partnerships & Referral Program
  • Self-Pay Subscriptions & Out-of-Network Billing
  • On-Demand Support & Crisis Services.

Structure & Culture

Structure

• Leadership: Mantra Health is led by:
  • Matt Kennedy: Co-founder/CEO
  • Ed Gaussen: Co-founder/President
  • Ravi Shah, MD: Co-Founder
  • Nora Feldpausch: Founding Medical Director
  • Carla Chugani, PhD, LPC: VP of Clinical Programs
  • Larry Ozowara, MD: Senior Clinical Advisor
• Teams: Given their service offerings and focus on technology, they likely have dedicated teams for technology development, clinical operations, partnerships, marketing, and customer support.

Culture

• Student-centricity: Mantra Health is deeply committed to addressing the unique mental health needs of college students
• Innovation: They emphasize leveraging technology to make mental healthcare more accessible and convenient.
• Collaboration: Partnerships with higher education institutions are central to their model, indicating a collaborative approach.
• Data-driven: Their use of metrics like student retention rates shows a data-driven approach to demonstrating impact.

Impact & Success

Numbers don’t lie, and the numbers are in favor of Mantra Health.

Customer Feedback

Students appreciate the accessibility, convenience, and quality of care provided by the platform, as eveidenced in the feedback:

Success Stories

• 4 in 5 students say Mantra helps them stay enrolled in school.
• 61% of students at risk of dropping out become low-risk after using Mantra.
• 70% of students who used Mantra Health to improve their mental health say that it helped prevent them from dropping out of school.

Growth & Future

In 2024, the global telehealth market was valued at $123.26 billion, projected to reach $455.27 billion by 2030. Growth is driven by digital health adoption, investment, and tech advances.

North America led with a 46.58% share, with the U.S. telehealth market accounting for the largest market share. Psychiatry is the fastest-growing segment, fueled by rising mental health needs and telepsychiatry adoption.

These findings indicate a ripe market for telehealth services in the US, especially in psychiatry. And by extension, it shows the great growth potential for Mantra Health.

Challenges

• Scaling Complexity: Rapidly scaling operations, maintaining service quality, and managing a large, distributed provider network across 50 states presents significant logistical hurdles.
• Competition: Facing increasing competition from other well-funded players specifically targeting the higher education market.
• Sales Cycles & Budgets: Navigating potentially long and complex university procurement processes and adapting to varying institutional budget constraints.
• Partnership Management: Ensuring consistent quality, seamless integration, and effective collaboration across multiple external partners.
• Provider Network Management: Maintaining provider satisfaction, ensuring adequate compensation, and preventing churn within the clinical network.
• Reliance on External Funding: Dependence on institutional contracts and insurance reimbursement models makes the business susceptible to changes in university budgets or healthcare policy.

Future Plans

• Expansion: Mantra Health aims to expand its reach to 40 million young adults through partnerships with more higher education institutions and health insurance plans.
• Innovation: They plan to continue developing new solutions to meet the evolving needs of their customers
• Strategic Focus: The core strategy remains centered on deep integration with campus systems via the “Whole Campus Care” model. The formation of a Student Affairs Leadership Council composed of experienced higher education leaders further underscores the commitment to aligning strategy with the evolving needs of the sector.

Key Takeaways for Entrepreneurs

• Niche Down for Impact: In a crowded market like mental health, Mantra Health found success by focusing on the unique needs of college students. Don’t be afraid to specialize and own a niche, even if it seems narrow at first.
• Turn Problems into Profits: Mantra Health identified a critical pain point – inadequate mental health support in higher education – and built a business around solving it. What societal problems can you address with a for-profit solution?
• B2B2C Can Unlock Scale: While their end-users are students, Mantra Health strategically targets universities and insurance providers. This B2B2C approach enables them to tap into existing networks and reach a broader audience quickly.
• Integrate, Don’t Disrupt: Instead of trying to replace existing systems, Mantra Health positions itself as a collaborative partner, integrating with universities’ existing resources. This approach can facilitate adoption and build trust with stakeholders.
• Data Tells a Story: Mantra Health leverages data on student utilization and outcomes to demonstrate their impact and refine their offerings. Track your metrics and use them to tell a compelling story to investors and partners.
• Emotions Drive Decisions: People often rationalize decisions based on emotions. Consider how your startup can tap into emotional needs and provide solutions that resonate on a deeper level, even in seemingly logical markets.