Mental health chat startup Talkspace (Groop Internet Platform Inc.) has raised $9.5 million Series A in a round led by Spark Capital that included SoftBank, Metamorphic Ventures and TheTime.

Based in New York City Talkspace is a global online therapy platform that connects people with licensed therapists.

Users access the service via the website or mobile apps and are matched to a mental health professional who can assist them with therapy, which can either take the form of a chat or video.

It’s not necessarily a full blown replacement for mental health assistance (the site specifically warns that it shouldn’t be used if a user is suicidal) but instead offers an affordable alternative to more expensive in-real-life therapy, in a more convenient and modern fashion.

Users (or perhaps correctly patients) are matched to therapists using semantic data analysis run through IBM’s Watson platform, in theory delivering the right therapist to each user.

The service, while noble, isn’t free, with a variety of payment options including a $25 a week plan paid monthly for “unlimited messaging therapy” and $29 for a 30 minute video session.

“Mental illness is a worldwide epidemic and that’s the problem we’re here to solve,” Talkspace’s Co-founder and Head of Clinical Services Roni Frank said in a statement. “By removing the barriers to entry for millions of people, we’re making it easy for people to be proactive about their mental health.”

“Access to proper mental health care should be made available for everyone,” General Partner at Spark Capital Alex Finkelstein added. “Mental illness affects one out of four people every year, and the awareness surrounding this global crisis has become even more prevalent in the past few years. Talkspace provides a professional, affordable and convenient alternative to traditional therapy, and we couldn’t be more excited to continue supporting such a groundbreaking company.”

Feel good startup

While the facts on the prevalence of mental health issues in 2015 are reasonably well known, what perhaps isn’t as well-known, at least among those who have never dealt with it, or knows someone who has, is that mental health support is often highly expensive to access, and depending on where you live, often limited in supply.

Whether Talkspace is the perfect solution to the problem is yet to be seen, but on the surface it seems to be a positive step forward, and they claim to already have served 70,000 people.

It’s a feel good startup, and it’s hard not to wish them well in their endeavors.

Including the new round Talkspace has raised $13 million to-date. The company said it would use the new money to further their mission to provide affordable and accessible therapy for all.

Image credit: bluminbeanie/ Flickr/ CC by 2.0