A new interventional psychiatry startup out of San Mateo, California, just emerged from stealth with $80 million from a Series A funding round. Salma Health pitches itself as a brain health company that aims to integrate continuous care coordination and interventions with diagnostics to reduce care fragmentation.
The company will offer transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatment, neuromodulation for treatment-resistant depression, psychotherapy, clinical counseling and medication management at in-person and telehealth locations, according to a news release.
“Brain health conditions are deeply complex, yet for decades we’ve just treated them with trial and error,” Alaa Halawa, CEO of Salma Health and the head of health care at Mubadala Capital, a firm that co-led the company’s Series A round, said.
Interventional psychiatry treatments like neuromodulation and TMS, and ketamine treatments are increasingly garnering attention across the behavioral health sector. In December, interventional psychiatry practice Radial received $50 million in a Series A round led by General Catalyst. Enthea, which provides insurance plans for interventional psychiatry services, previously told Behavioral Health Business it has seen a 6,000% increase in interest throughout the past year.
Salma Health has opened locations in four California cities: Berkeley, Fremont, Orange County and San Diego. Long-term, it aims to open additional locations across the U.S. as part of its strategic expansion, but details about where it plans to expand its geographic footprint next were not shared.
A proprietary artificial intelligence-backed platform is central to the company’s care coordination model, bringing together patient clinical insights, data and neurobiological information to monitor their brain health journey and interprets complex neural, physiological and digital markers to personalize diagnosis and inform treatment. The operating system also analyzes patterns within a HIPAA-compliant framework to monitor outcomes, predict relapses before they happen and refine care plans accordingly.
“Conventional neurological, psychiatric and behavioral care is designed around first-line treatments, but that approach often leaves patients behind,” Dr. Brandon Bentzley, chief medical officer at Salma Health, said in the release. “We’re combining the most advanced therapeutic interventions and integrated clinical protocols to move beyond symptom management and toward true recovery. Our goal isn’t incremental progress; it’s to redefine what’s possible in brain healthcare.”
Clinical research will also be core to Salma Health’s strategy and inform how it further refines deep data across neuro, physiological and digital markers within its care model. The company integrates FDA-regulated clinical trials directly into patient care rather than treating them as a separate arm, thereby broadening patients’ access to experimental and emerging therapy options.
It also plans to publish outcomes data to inform clinical guidelines for interventional psychiatry methods and elevate standards of care across the industry.
Long term, Salma Health will aim to evolve toward a future where “when a patient walks in the door, clinicians can immediately match them with the optimal treatment based on their unique biological and clinical markers,” the release noted.
The capital round was led by Mubadala Capital and ARCH Venture Partners.