Since 2022, Stanford, Calif.-based Sonar Mental Health has partnered with nine school districts from California to Arkansas to provide preventative mental health care for more than 4,500 adolescents.
Students get access to Sonny, Sonar’s AI-powered “well-being companion,” which provides mental health support to students via text messages. The chatbot learns and adapts to each students’ unique needs to help manage stress during college applications, conflicts with friends or when dealing with grief.
Critics say mental health chatbots can sometimes do more harm than good. Sonny’s algorithm is built and managed with oversight from a board of psychiatrists, counselors, researchers and AI experts.
“Nearly every school in the US is under-resourced, with the mental health support system across school districts remaining completely disjointed,” said Marta-Gaia Zanchi of Barcelona-based health tech VC Nina Capital, which led Sonar’s pre-seed funding round. “Sonar is bringing something entirely new to the market, supporting students all over the country with desperately needed mental health resources.”
Chronic absenteeism
Nearly half of adolescents in the US have had a mental health disorder, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and bipolar disorders, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. This has worsened chronic absenteeism, when a student misses at least 18 school days. Sonar says Sonny is a cost-effective way to reduce chronic absenteeism in schools by as much as 25%.
Through a student survey, Sonny claims at least three out of four students reported improved their mental wellbeing from using the app. Sonar says most of its school district partners are looking to increase their mental health spending.
Other investors in the pre-seed round include GSR Ventures and J4 Ventures. Sonar’s founders Drew Barvir and Gabe Moynihan received funding and advising support from the Stanford Impact Founder fellowship program.
