Over the past few years, mental health care has become one of the most important conversation topics in America. Stigma softened, awareness grew, and a long-overdue cultural shift finally took hold that led to a surge in demand for mental health services. However, access hadn’t kept up with the moment. Independent therapists, who make up the backbone of the behavioral health workforce, were left to navigate a thicket of insurance contracts, credentialing requirements, and administrative burdens largely on their own. Patients, meanwhile, faced months-long waitlists, a patchwork of out-of-network providers they often couldn’t afford, and inconsistent levels of care.
COVID was the turning point. Mental health needs skyrocketed, CMS introduced new telehealth flexibilities, and payers faced unprecedented pressure to expand access. A new, insurance-covered segment of the behavioral health market emerged almost overnight and, with it, a massive opportunity to rebuild the infrastructure from the ground up.
That’s exactly what Grow Therapy set out to do. And we couldn’t be more excited to partner with them.
Today, we’re thrilled to announce that Menlo Ventures is investing in Grow Therapy as they continue to scale into one of the largest and fastest-growing behavioral health networks in the country.
Building the Backbone of Behavioral Health
The problem was personal for Grow’s founders. Jake Cooper, Manoj Kanagaraj, and Alan Ni had watched friends and family get priced out of care and providers struggle under the weight of credentialing, billing, and insurance complexity that had little to do with why they became clinicians in the first place. In 2020, they set out to fix it.
Left to right: Grow Therapy co-founders Manoj Kanagaraj, MD (CSO), Jake Cooper (CEO), and Alan Ni (CTO)
Grow aggregated a network of independent providers and equipped them with everything they needed to build a thriving practice—credentialing and insurance paneling, billing and practice management, an AI scribe, and, most importantly: a steady stream of patients. By handling all of that complexity on the backend, Grow lets providers do what they do best, while building a network that insurance companies are excited to work with.
We first met Jake in 2022 and were instant admirers of his mission-driven approach to the problem and big vision on how to radically improve it. Since then, we stayed close and have been deeply impressed with his ability to execute in a complex and nuanced environment. Over the last three years, the team has built an extensive national network across all 50 states, partnered with some of the nation’s larger payers, and added exciting AI capabilities to drive better patient outcomes. Grow has become the market leader without losing sight of its original mission, and they’re just getting started. As such, when the opportunity to invest arose, we jumped at it and are thrilled to finally be partners.
The Next Phase: AI-Powered Care
As access bottlenecks ease, quality is emerging as the next frontier, and Grow is building for exactly this moment. The team is developing a suite of AI capabilities designed to extend support beyond the therapy session, equip providers with richer insights into patient progress, and enable more continuous and objective measurement of outcomes over time. Together, these tools not only deepen Grow’s value to every stakeholder in the ecosystem, but also position the company as a partner in value-based care.
As a firm that has invested deeply in AI, we’re particularly energized by its ability to shape the next chapter of mental healthcare—and Grow’s potential to define it.
Backing the Future of Care Delivery
Grow is the latest piece of a thesis we’ve been assembling across the portfolio. Across our investments, we’ve backed a consistent thesis: that the future of healthcare is personalized, accessible, and built around the patient. Function Health is putting comprehensive diagnostics in the hands of everyday people. Solace is giving patients a guide through one of the most confusing systems in their lives. Slingshot is making mental health support available to anyone through their AI companion Ash. And Cartwheel is bringing the same accessibility to kids and teens, one of the most underserved populations in mental health, to ensure they get the support they need where they already are.
Grow sits squarely at the heart of this thesis. Jake, Manoj, and Alan have combined sharp operational instincts with genuine mission-driven care for the providers and patients on their platform, and we couldn’t be prouder to be in their corner as they continue expanding access to quality mental health care across the country.
If you’re a patient looking for a therapist, or a provider looking to grow your practice, check out Grow Therapy at growtherapy.com.