LifeSpeak Inc. has closed a $42 million growth round of equity financing led by Round13 Growth Fund with participation of Kensington Capital Partners and Roynat Capital.
Round13’s Sanjiv Samant and Alex Yanitsky, Kensington’s Liam Cheung, and Roynat’s Mark Brodkin will join LifeSpeak’s board of directors.
The financing, LifeSpeak’s first institutional funding round, will help to accelerate its global growth trajectory.
Founded by Michael Held, Toronto based LifeSpeak is North America’s leading digital education platform for employee mental health and wellness. Since its founding in 2004, LifeSpeak has established itself as a trusted digital health provider for hundreds of North America’s leading companies across 25 industries, including financial institutions, technology, telecommunication, energy, manufacturing, as well as a large public sector presence covering governments, municipalities, hospitals and school boards.
EDIT: LifeSpeak disclosed in its IPO prospectus that the financing was done by way of secondary purchase from some of the existing shareholders. The financing is a seconadry deal and the company received no money at all.
photo credit: LifeSpeakNews Release
LifeSpeak Announces $42 Million Equity Investment To Accelerate Growth Of Digital Mental Health and Wellness Platform
TORONTO, Sept. 15, 2020 /CNW/ – LifeSpeak Inc., North America’s leading digital education platform for employee mental health and wellness, today announced a $42 million growth equity investment from Round13 Growth Fund, Kensington Capital Partners and Roynat Capital. LifeSpeak is raising its first institutional funding round to accelerate its global growth trajectory.
Market demand for remote, technology-based mental health and wellness solutions has grown substantially in recent years. Awareness of mental health issues from anxiety and stress to suicide risk has further accelerated with the onset of COVID-19, particularly with an increasingly remote workforce.
Since its founding in 2004, LifeSpeak has established itself as a trusted digital health provider for hundreds of North America’s leading companies across 25 industries, including financial institutions, technology, telecommunication, energy, manufacturing, as well as a large public sector presence covering governments, municipalities, hospitals and school boards.
LifeSpeak’s software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) platform of more than 2,000 video training sessions, podcasts, tip sheets and other proprietary content is unique in the market having been screened, vetted and curated from acclaimed experts spanning leading authors and heads of best-in-class institutions. Core to the product is a technology-led approach to engagement, training and communication that helps LifeSpeak achieve industry-leading utilization metrics. The platform, offered remotely to employees and health plan members, covers topics such as preventative health, mental health (including depression, anxiety, addiction, isolation, suicide, etc.), marital and relationship advice, parenting and eldercare.
“The current health crisis has highlighted the difficulty organizations face in addressing the needs of the anxious, remote workforce,” said Michael Held, Founder and CEO of LifeSpeak. “We’re excited to partner with our new investors to dramatically expand access to LifeSpeak’s platform across health plans and employers. Addressing depression, anxiety, addiction, and other health issues enhances employee well-being and strengthens corporate culture and productivity. Building resilience enables companies to support employees in the face of everyday stress, as well as equipping them to better handle an acute crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“We warmly welcome our new institutional partners and are eager to work with them to expand the LifeSpeak platform globally and provide a much needed component of the corporate health technology ecosystem,” added Nolan Bederman, Chairman of LifeSpeak.
“We’re thrilled to partner with LifeSpeak’s exceptional management team and co-investors to broaden the reach and awareness of this unique SaaS platform to more companies and their employees,” said Sanjiv Samant, Founder and Managing Partner of the Round13 Growth Fund. “LifeSpeak represents the first transaction for Round13’s newly established Growth Fund. We couldn’t be happier investing into such a fast growing and profitable company that is helping employees and their families access much needed support during these difficult times.”
Origin Merchant Partners acted as LifeSpeak’s financial advisor and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP acted as LifeSpeak’s legal counsel for this transaction.
For more information about LifeSpeak, follow us on social media at @lifespeak or visit https://lifespeak.com
About LifeSpeak
LifeSpeak is the leading digital mental health and wellness education platform, providing employees and health plan members (and their families) with remote access to North America’s leading experts in mental health, physical wellness, financial health, family relationships and professional skills development, through a proprietary collection of content and tools. A North American leader in well-tech, LifeSpeak has a well-established 16 year track record of effectiveness, engagement and client retention.
SOURCE LifeSpeak Inc.
For further information: MEDIA CONTACT: Paul Maccabee, 612-366-5287