In an era where burnout among therapists is rising and administrative overload threatens the sustainability of private practices, San Francisco-based Heard Technologies Inc. is stepping into the spotlight with a bold mission—and now, a substantial financial boost to match. The company announced it has raised $10 million in Series A digital mental health startup funding, marking a significant milestone in its journey to transform how therapists manage the business side of mental health care.
The funding round, led by Footwork VC and joined by Founders Co-Op, Act One Ventures, and eight individual investors, signals a growing investor appetite for backend solutions in the mental health industry. While many startups focus on patient-facing innovations—such as AI-powered therapy or digital diagnostics—Heard Technologies is taking a different route. It’s building a financial infrastructure for the therapists themselves, offering subscription-based tools that remove the friction from bookkeeping, tax filing, payroll, and more.
A Company Built on Listening to Therapists
Founded in September 2019 by Andrew Riesen and Victoria Li, Heard Technologies didn’t originally start as a fintech service for therapists. In fact, its first iteration was a referral platform, aimed at helping therapists with full caseloads connect patients with those who still had availability. But it didn’t take long for the co-founders to realize there was a bigger issue plaguing the mental health field: the business side of therapy was broken.
“Hours and hours” of consultations with therapists helped the team understand a pressing need that often goes unnoticed—navigating the labyrinth of starting and managing a private practice. Therapists shared horror stories of managing quarterly taxes, trying to pay themselves consistently, staying compliant with payroll regulations, and struggling to keep their finances in order while juggling patient care.
“That sort of customer discovery is what led to where we are today,” Riesen told Behavioral Health Business. “It gave us specific insights on how painful it is to set up a new business, to figure out how to pay yourself, figure out how to pay others in your practice and also get a handle on paying your taxes.”
This customer-led pivot has now put Heard Technologies at the forefront of a new kind of behavioral health tech—one that supports providers by helping them build sustainable, thriving practices with smart financial tools.
What Heard Offers: Tools for Solopreneurs and Small Group Practices
Today, Heard Technologies serves both solo practitioners and small group practices with a digital-first solution designed to minimize administrative burdens. Offered via a monthly subscription—$149 for solo providers and $249 for group practices—the platform gives users access to:
- Automated income and expense tracking
- Quarterly meetings with financial experts to review taxes
- Payroll and contractor payment management
- Bookkeeping and accounting integration
- Syncing with HR platforms like Gusto (available as an add-on)
These features are designed for therapists who are either 1099 contractors or full business owners running their own private practices. Riesen emphasized that the company’s focus is on helping these professionals gain control over their business operations without getting bogged down by complex financial tasks.
The company’s website describes its product as a complete financial back office, helping clinicians operate with the same professionalism and polish seen in other sectors—but without needing to hire an accountant or office manager full time.
Building Toward Full Integration
One of Heard’s next major goals is to integrate payroll services directly into its core software. Currently, therapists can connect to Gusto, a popular HR platform, for payroll and tax services. But according to Riesen, embedding this feature natively within the platform will further streamline therapist workflows and reduce reliance on third-party services.
“By integrating payroll directly, we remove another layer of friction for our users,” he said. “Our goal is to be the only tool therapists need to manage the financial health of their practice.”
To get there, the company plans to hire seasoned executives with experience in scaling early-stage startups, enhancing user interfaces, and introducing new financial tools. With the new digital mental health startup funding, Heard Technologies is investing in talent, product development, and system architecture to make these upgrades possible.
Not Alone in the Space—But Clearly Differentiated
Heard Technologies is not the only company tackling therapist operations, but it is one of the few focusing specifically on the financial ecosystem of practice management. Other digital health companies have earned major digital mental health startup funding rounds, but their products often aim to streamline access or delivery of care—not necessarily the business mechanics behind it.
Take Headway, for example. Based in New York City, Headway raised over $100 million for a platform that helps therapists accept insurance and ensures they get paid quickly—no small feat in a notoriously opaque reimbursement landscape. Similarly, Alma (legally known as Arlozorov9 Inc.), has brought in more than $90 million in funding to improve in-network access and support clinicians with shared resources like administrative staff and insurance credentialing.
Other players in the space include Eleos Health, which uses artificial intelligence and voice recognition to automate note-taking and documentation during therapy sessions. The company raised $20 million in Series A funding and operates in both Boston and Tel Aviv.
Where Heard Technologies stands out is its narrow, yet crucial focus: giving therapists business confidence by simplifying the financial side of their work. Rather than trying to expand into care delivery, scheduling, or AI diagnostics, the company is doubling down on accounting, taxes, and practice sustainability.
A Rising Tide in Mental Health Tech
The digital behavioral health sector has seen enormous growth over the last five years, catalyzed by increased awareness, declining stigma, and the COVID-19 pandemic’s push toward remote services. Venture capital has flooded into the space, backing everything from virtual therapy platforms to digital diagnostics, meditation apps, and now—practice management tools.
This new round of digital mental health startup funding represents more than just a win for Heard Technologies. It reflects a growing realization among investors that clinician burnout is not just an HR issue—it’s a systems failure that needs infrastructure-level solutions.
And when you look at the landscape of modern therapy, it’s easy to see why Heard’s model resonates. More and more therapists are striking out on their own, building boutique practices that serve niche communities, offer culturally competent care, or specialize in hard-to-find modalities. These providers often don’t have the time or energy to become part-time bookkeepers.
Partnerships and the Network Effect
As part of its growth strategy, Heard Technologies has established supportive relationships with other players in the mental health ecosystem. The company’s tools are used by therapists contracted with Alma, Spring Health, and Grow Therapy, where Riesen says their services are “supportive” in nature. These therapists often work on a contract basis and benefit from having access to clear, organized financial data and tax support.
By partnering with organizations that already have strong networks of clinicians, Heard Technologies can scale more quickly and serve as the financial foundation for an already active community of providers.
As the company builds out additional features—including embedded payroll, tax optimization tools, and potentially even retirement planning services—it is positioning itself as an indispensable ally for any mental health professional looking to run their business with confidence.
The Therapist-Centered Future of Behavioral Health Tech
At the heart of Heard Technologies’ success is a simple insight: therapists are small business owners. And like any entrepreneur, they need tools that help them manage finances, plan for the future, and grow sustainably. Heard Technologies isn’t trying to change the way therapy is delivered. It’s aiming to strengthen the backbone of the profession by empowering the providers behind it.
The $10 million digital mental health startup funding round is a clear signal that investors see value in this approach. With new executive leadership, product enhancements, and embedded payroll capabilities on the horizon, the company is poised to become a foundational player in the behavioral health space.
As Riesen noted, therapists don’t just need software—they need a system that understands their specific challenges and simplifies the path to business ownership. With this latest funding round, Heard Technologies is on track to deliver exactly that.
