Mental health care in the United States may soon get a new approach as healthtech startup Siggy has launched with $6 million in pre-seed capital. The New York-based company aims to make mental health support more personal, simple and easy to access through a mix of artificial intelligence (AI) and human doctors.
The startup has a clear goal: help people get the right care, keep track of their progress and stay connected with their care team. Its platform brings therapy, prescription support and AI-based patient care under one system. Rather than rely only on short doctor visits, Siggy wants to offer support before, between and after appointments.
Village Global led the $6 million pre-seed round. Several angel investors also backed the company. With this capital, Siggy plans to build its technology, expand its team and develop a service that can offer more personal mental health care to people across the United States.
The launch comes at a time when many people face long waits, high costs and gaps in mental health support. Siggy believes AI can help close some of these gaps, while licensed clinicians remain responsible for medical decisions.
What Is Siggy and What Does It Aim to Do?
Siggy is an AI-based virtual mental health provider. It aims to create a complete care system where patients can speak with human clinicians and use AI support between their visits.
In many cases, a person may see a therapist for one concern and visit another doctor for medication. These professionals may not have access to the same patient records or a clear view of the person’s full health history. As a result, patients may have to explain the same problems again and again.
Siggy wants to solve this issue through one connected platform. It collects a patient’s health history, keeps a record of their needs and helps clinicians understand changes in their mental health over time.
The platform also offers AI support between doctor visits. Patients can use it to discuss their goals, recall tasks suggested by their care team and talk about their progress. However, AI does not replace a human doctor. Clinicians remain responsible for diagnosis, prescriptions and treatment decisions.
The company also aims to make its first step simple. People can start with a free and anonymous chat with its AI system. They do not need to create an account or share login details at this stage. Patients pay only if they choose to move ahead with treatment.
How Does the AI-Based Care System Work?
Siggy has designed its service as a simple path from the first chat to regular care. A patient starts with a free conversation with the company’s AI system. During this chat, the person can share their concerns, past health details and the kind of help they need.
The AI keeps a record of this information. This means patients do not have to repeat their full story each time they speak with a new provider. The system also creates an early assessment, which a human clinician reviews before any treatment choice.
After this first step, the patient can speak with a human provider. The clinician reviews the details, discusses the person’s needs and shares suitable treatment options. Patients can then decide whether they want to accept the care plan.
Once a patient joins the service, they can log in to the platform and add their current doctors or family members. They can also confirm their treatment goals. This gives the care team a clearer view of what the patient wants to achieve.
Patients who accept treatment meet a human clinician once a month. They can also use Siggy’s AI support between these visits. The system uses the patient’s full history to offer more relevant support instead of treating each chat as a separate conversation.
Human Doctors Remain at the Centre
One of the main parts of Siggy’s model is its focus on human care. While AI helps collect information and support patients between visits, licensed clinicians make all key medical decisions.
The AI therapy agent can help people work towards their treatment goals, recall exercises suggested by their clinician and talk about their daily concerns. It can also help them notice repeated habits or changes in their behaviour.
However, the system does not answer medical questions. If a patient needs clinical advice, it directs them to a human provider. Siggy also has safety rules that alert clinicians when a patient may need a higher level of care.
This approach is important because mental health needs can differ from person to person. A chatbot may offer general support, but a trained clinician can review a patient’s full situation and decide what care is suitable.
Siggy aims to use AI as a support tool, not as a replacement for professional medical care. The company believes this mix can help patients stay connected with their care team without the need for a doctor to be present at every step.
The Daily Siggy Score: A New Way to Track Progress
Another key feature of the platform is its daily Siggy Score. This score gives patients and their clinicians a simple view of a person’s mental and physical well-being.
Patients complete a short daily check-in that takes about one minute. The questions cover four main areas: sleep, mood, physical well-being and medication side effects.
The platform can also connect with wearable devices. These include products from Apple Watch, Oura and Whoop. Data from these devices, along with patient responses, helps create a single score out of 100.
Both the patient and the clinician can view this score each day. If the system notices a repeated change or a pattern that may need attention, it alerts the clinician and shares the details behind that change.
This can help doctors understand what happens between appointments. For example, a patient may report poor sleep for several days or notice a change in mood after a new medication. Such details may help a clinician decide whether the current care plan still meets the patient’s needs.
Siggy also has weekly check-ins during the first two months of treatment. These help clinicians review how a patient responds to medication. Based on the results, a doctor may keep the same dose, raise it or change the medicine.
The final decision always rests with the clinician.
Why Is Siggy Entering the Mental Health Market?
Mental health care remains a major challenge in the United States. Many people need support, but access to regular treatment is not always easy. Some patients face high costs, while others struggle to find a doctor or keep regular appointments.
There is also a gap between therapy and prescription care. A patient may speak with a therapist often but meet a doctor who handles medication only once every few months. If these professionals do not share enough information, important details about the patient’s progress may get missed.
Siggy co-founder and CEO Jonathan Sabbagh believes this lack of connected care can cause people to leave treatment before they complete the recommended course.
The company points to two important figures. About 16% of American adults take antidepressants, while one-fifth stop treatment before they complete the recommended course.
These figures show why regular support matters. A prescription alone may not be enough. Patients may also need help with their daily habits, side effects, treatment goals and emotional health.
Siggy aims to address this gap through a system that keeps a record of patient progress and helps clinicians stay aware of changes between visits.
Who Are the Founders Behind Siggy?
Siggy was co-founded by Jonathan Sabbagh and Edvard Engesaeth, MD. Both founders have past experience in the healthcare sector and have built companies before this venture.
Jonathan Sabbagh is the company’s CEO. Before his move into mental health, he spent two decades in finance. His own experience with burnout and undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), linked to childhood trauma, led him to explore mental health care.
After he received psychedelic-assisted therapy, Sabbagh chose to study psychology. He later co-founded Journey Clinical, a US-based network that supports practices that offer psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Edvard Engesaeth, MD, is Siggy’s co-founder and COO. He also co-founded Nurx, a digital healthcare company that grew to more than two million patients and reached a $100 million annual revenue run rate before its 2022 merger with Thirty Madison.
Siggy has also brought in Daniel Montville, MD, as its chief medical officer. He is a Mayo Clinic-trained psychiatrist and leads the company’s medical approach.
The founders bring experience from finance, psychiatry, digital health and healthcare services. Their past work has helped shape Siggy’s focus on connected care and better patient support.
Who Invested in Siggy’s $6 Million Pre-Seed Round?
Village Global led Siggy’s $6 million pre-seed round. The company also received support from several investors and angel backers who see value in its plan to combine AI with professional mental health care.
The investor group includes Albert Wenger of Union Square Ventures, Immad Akhund of Mercury and Toyin Ajayi of Cityblock Health through Coalition Operators. Other backers include PsyMed Ventures, Christina Sass, co-founder of Andela, and Andrew Parker of Papa.
Steven Gutentag and Demetri Karagas, the co-founders of Thirty Madison, also backed the startup. Daft VC, Mystic Ventures and angel investor Gokul Rajaram are part of the investor group as well.
Several of these backers have supported the founders or their earlier companies in the past. Their support suggests confidence in the team’s experience and its plan for a new type of mental health service.
The $6 million will help Siggy hire more clinicians and engineers, improve its software and meet the rules that apply to healthcare services. These steps will help the company develop its platform and serve more patients.
Insurance Access Across All 50 US States
Access to affordable care is another major part of Siggy’s plan. The company says its service is covered by major commercial health insurance providers across all 50 US states.
These providers include Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Humana. Siggy also accepts Medicaid, Medicare and TRICARE.
The company offers its service free of charge to veterans. This can help more people access professional mental health support without the full cost of private care.
Siggy can prescribe medication, but it does not prescribe controlled substances. Its clinicians can also help patients reduce or stop medication when they are ready, based on medical advice and their health needs.
This gives the platform a wider role than a basic AI chat service. It aims to connect patients with doctors, therapy, prescription care and regular progress checks under one system.
What Are Siggy’s Plans for the Future?
Siggy has plans that go beyond mental health care. Over time, the company hopes to use data from speech, lab tests, genetic tests and other health markers to help identify more medical conditions.
Some of the conditions it hopes to explore include diabetes and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). These plans are part of its wider aim to build a more complete picture of a person’s health.
The company also wants to create neural datasets that could support clinical trials for new technologies, such as brain implants.
These goals are part of its long-term vision. However, they will require careful medical research, strong data protection and proper clinical checks before any wider use.
For now, Siggy’s main focus remains its AI-supported mental health service. The company wants to make care more personal, improve contact between patients and doctors, and help people stay on track with their treatment.
Can Siggy Change the Way People Receive Mental Health Care?
Siggy enters a market where access to care and regular patient support remain major concerns. Its model offers a different approach by combining AI tools with human clinicians in one place.
The free first chat can make it easier for people to take the first step. The daily check-ins and Siggy Score can help patients and doctors keep track of changes. Its links with insurance providers may also help more people access the service.
Still, the company’s long-term success will depend on how well its system works in real life. It must show that its AI tools can support patients without creating new risks or confusion. It must also protect private health records and make sure that doctors have the right information to make safe decisions.
The $6 million pre-seed round gives Siggy a base to build its service and expand its team. Its founders have past experience in healthcare, while its investors bring support from the tech and health sectors.
Siggy’s core idea is simple: mental health care should not stop when a doctor visit ends. By using AI for regular support and keeping human clinicians in charge of treatment, the startup hopes to make mental health care more connected, personal and accessible across the United States.
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