Can an online emotional support platform replace in-person community or psychological counseling? Investors seem to think so: Circles, an Israeli startup developing an online emotional well-being platform, has just raised $8 million in seed funding.
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Circles was founded in 2020 by CEO Irad Eichler and CRO Dan Landa, formerly a senior marketing lead at Google. Eichler established Circles after watching his mother find comfort in connecting with other patients after she was diagnosed with cancer.
Despite growing global understanding that mental wellness is a critical part of overall health, there are few options outside of psychotherapy, which can be expensive, for people seeking support. Circles is built on the core principle that in order to overcome life's challenges, people need to be heard and supported by people who actually understand what they are going through.
"We all go through issues in our lives where we need someone to talk to. But not every challenge requires therapy and, more importantly, sometimes the best way to feel better is to surround yourself with people who actually understand you in a truly empathetic way," Eichler explains.
"This desire to connect with others who are going through the same challenges often means we wind up on Facebook groups or these other unstructured online forums, but those outlets don't enable the types of meaningful connections needed to help people feel better. With Circles, people never have to face their struggles alone," Eichler adds.
The Circles platform leverages proprietary technology and the expertise of an experienced leadership team that specializes in mental wellbeing to create supportive communities that are led by professional facilitators and built on mutual care. The platform matches groups of six to eight people facing similar issues and offers them intimate and private emotional support sessions.
Just months after its soft launch, the Circles platform matched thousands of people facing similar challenges and facilitated more than 100,000 hours of support.
"Over the last year and a half, there has been a sharp increase in anxiety and emotional distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing millions of people to seek help and relief," said Sergey Gribov, a partner at Flint Capital, one of the leading investors in the latest fundraising round. "The power of Circles is that it makes emotional health accessible to anyone, anywhere and it's as easy as simply opening an app."
Leading contributors to the seed round also included NFX and Sir Ronald Cohen, Jeff Swartz and others.
To learn more about Circles or to sign up for a free trial, visit circlesup.com.
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