Online therapy provider Talkspace acquired Wisdo Health to integrate peer support and coaching into its mental health services.
Wisdo is an artificial-intelligence-powered coaching and peer-to-peer support platform that gives users 24/7 access to trained peers, moderated communities and group coaching to help combat social isolation and loneliness.
The acquisition will enhance Talkspace's service line, offering lower-acuity options and complementing existing therapy and psychiatry services.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
"The acquisition really advances Talkspace's mission to provide personalized, stepped care and mental health support now from peer connection to coaching to therapy to psychiatric care," Erin Boyd, Talkspace's chief growth officer, told Fierce Healthcare in an exclusive interview about the acquisition. "So whether it's an entry point into mental health and wellness for someone who's maybe not quite ready to see a therapist, or can be used as an additional support while in therapy, or it can be as a step down level when you're done with your therapy, to continue your wellness journey, we kind of have all the bases covered."
Talkspace connects people via an app with therapists who provide counseling remotely, either over the phone, by video chat or by text. The company's suite of mental health services includes therapy for individuals, teens and couples as well as psychiatric treatment and medication management.
The company now covers nearly 200 million people in-network and through Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans as well as TRICARE, which serves U.S. military members and their families. Individuals also have access to Talkspace's services through employee assistance programs, its partnerships with leading healthcare companies or as a free benefit through their employer, school or government agency.
The acquisition of Wisdo Health enables Talkspace to expand its suite of services to lower acuity mental health and social health needs and helps to address the growing need for connection and emotional resilience.
Talkspace inked a partnership with Wisdo a year ago with a focus on improving access to mental health resources for the 65-plus community.
"There's just so many intersections between our two platforms. With the acquisition, Wisdo's communities of peer support and coaching and group coaching become a great extender of Talkspace's existing service line. For the patient, it addresses the ever-growing need for connection in our society and the value that that can bring to someone's mental wellness," Boyd said.
Ian Harris, Talkspace's chief financial officer, added, "It was an opportune time in terms of their fundraising journey that we could step in and get to a full transaction."
Wisdo’s CEO Ron Goldman said joining forces with Talkspace enables the company to "bring the power of social health and peer support to millions more people."
"Our platform has shown that meaningful peer connections can transform lives while delivering significant value for our healthcare, life science, and government clients. Together, we will create a seamless continuum of care that ensures people receive the right support at the right time—while continuing to expand our AI roadmap, built on one of the richest proprietary datasets on loneliness and social health," Goldman said.
The addition of Wisdo better positions Talkspace to address loneliness and isolation, conditions that affect nearly half of U.S. adults and drive significant costs. In 2023, then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, M.D., declared loneliness a public health epidemic noting that loneliness is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity, Murthy wrote in a U.S. surgeon general report (PDF).
Isolated seniors also have higher Medicare spending. A socially isolated adult costs $1,643 more in annual spending, one study found.
Wisdo's services can provide a first step to some individuals who need support, Harris noted. "Alternatively, for folks in therapy, our providers may very well recommend it, 'I think you would benefit from a supplemental service to talk to folks who are going through a similar event or similar struggle that you are.' It could be complementary, it could be in lieu of and more of a market expansion opportunity. It became clear that we were going to have to build this and then it was pretty opportune that Wisdo came around, and it made more sense and was much faster to partner with them."
The acquisition also builds on Talkspace's launch last year of Teenspace Community, a peer-supported online space for verified teen users of Talkspace therapy. The company can now expand peer support groups for different populations, such as military families, first responders or individuals struggling with postpartum depression or menopause symptoms.
Wisdo's approach is backed by peer-reviewed research, and the company has demonstrated significant improvements in health outcomes, including reductions in loneliness and depression of up to 28%, alongside measurable gains in quality of life. In one study, participants reported a notable reduction in the number of mentally unhealthy days, resulting in an estimated annual medical cost reduction of $1,025 per participant.
Wisdo uses AI technology, based on 100 million peer interactions to date, for precision matching in order to connect members with the right peer support. Members are matched with trained peers based on shared lived experience along with more than 30 moderated communities and group coaching to build social resilience and promote healthy habits.
Actionable insights within Wisdo on clinical outcomes and care gaps will enable seamless referrals of members to Talkspace when appropriate, according to the company.
"The digital component, the technology behind it also is able to identify a lot of things for payers that they're looking for, whether it's social determinants, ICD-10 notifications. We can identify people who could benefit from therapy, and then triage them up to see a therapist at Talkspace," Boyd said.
The integration of Wisdo Health's platform also expands solutions for payers and enterprises, including the largest U.S. health plans already covering both Wisdo and Talkspace, the companies noted. As payers and employers focus on addressing mental health issues, there's increasing recognition that social isolation and loneliness are factors that influence an individual's health.
"Payers are always looking for a clinically-validated, lower-cost solution that makes a lot of sense to them," Boyd said. Addressing social determinants of health issues is a critical focus for Medicaid plans.
The company's payer business, or insurance-covered sessions, has been driving strong revenue growth in 2025. Talkspace brought in total revenue of $54.3 million for the second quarter of 2025, up nearly 18% from $46.1 million in the same period last year. Payer revenue grew 35% year over year to reach $40.5 million compared to $30 million a year ago. The company expects continued annual growth in the 30%-plus range for its payer business, executives said.
Peer support and coaching services also help mitigate the demand-supply mismatch in mental health professionals.
The U.S. is experiencing a mental health crisis with increased levels of unmet behavioral health needs among people of all ages, according to a report from the Health Resources and Services Administration. As of December 2023, more than half (169 million) of the U.S. population lives in a mental health professional shortage area.
"That demand-supply mismatch is a reality that we grapple with in our core Talkspace business, day to day, and managing our network, capacity planning and recruiting. It's a huge undertaking, the whole network operation side of the business. This will give us lower acuity options that we know customers are looking for," Harris said.
Talkspace continues to make big investments in AI. During the company's second-quarter earnings call in August, executives said Talkspace was building out foundational large language models specifically for behavioral health using its internal, de-identified clinical data sets.
The company plans to have an initial version of this AI platform available later this year. It also will use the AI platform to enhance existing services and to serve as a launchpad for future AI applications and behavioral health services, CEO Jon Cohen said.
As the virtual behavioral health market continues to grow, Talkspace executives assert that the company has distinct advantages with its 12 years of experience in the space.
"We consider ourselves a full-scale, multidisciplinary behavioral health care provider. We're hyper focused on quality, clinical outcomes and our technology, I think, certainly beats the competition, especially when it comes to AI, and how far advanced we are in leveraging AI in a variety of ways and what AI looks like for us in the future," Boyd said. "We're just like ahead of the pack in so many ways."