Exclusive: Telemental health provider UpLift acquires women-focused Minded

Telemental health startup UpLift acquired women-focused online psychiatry provider Minded, UpLift CEO Kyle Talcott tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: The market downturn has turned many behavioral health startups into assets for well-positioned later stage companies as a growing mental health crisis keeps demand for their services high.

Details: The deal for Minded, completed as an all-stock transaction, represents UpLift's first acquisition — but not its last, per Talcott.

• UpLift is taking on Minded's intellectual property, contracts, and infrastructure, but will not be taking on its employees.
• The deal comes just four months after UpLift closed a $10.7 million Series A round.

What's next: Talcott says UpLift has another acquisition "in the works right now."

How it [will] work: New York City-based Minded offered psychiatry focused on women's behavioral health needs, and Tampa, Florida-based UpLift contracts with commercial plans, Medicaid, and Medicare to offer virtual-first psychotherapy and psychiatry services that are covered by insurance.

• "We look forward for their patients, transitioning as many as we can into an insurance-based model," says Talcott.

Flashback: Talcott was introduced to one of Minded's investors through Redesign Health, the startup builder that helped launch UpLift.

What they're saying: "This is our first acquisition and certainly not our last," Talcott says.

State of play: Recent M&A deals in the behavioral health sector include:

• Telemental health company SonderMind in March acquired the assets of virtual behavioral health startup Mindstrong.
• BehaVR and OxfordVR, two virtual reality behavioral health companies, announced plans last December to merge with support from a $13 million Series B fundraise.