Big Health
17 known investors
Big Health develops digital treatments and care programs for mental health conditions, including cognitive behavioral therapy-based solutions for insomnia and other mental health issues. The company serves patients and healthcare systems seeking scalable, accessible mental health care backed by clinical research.
Also known as BigHealth
Founders & leadership
Investors Β· 17
Also in the syndicate Β· 4
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountSeries CJan 2022
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (lead), ArrowMark Partners, Gilde Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente Ventures (KPV), Morningside Ventures, Octopus Ventures
Source β
Source: company announcements and press reports β follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Big Health is a digital therapeutics company that develops software-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatments for common mental health conditions. Its product line includes Sleepio (sleep and insomnia) and Daylight (worry and anxiety), plus Spark Direct for mood, offered as workplace mental health solutions for employers; and prescription versions, SleepioRx and DaylightRx, which are FDA-cleared and available by order of a licensed healthcare provider for use alongside usual care. SleepioRx is indicated for chronic insomnia in adults 18 and older and DaylightRx for generalized anxiety disorder in adults 22 and older. The non-prescription Sleepio, Daylight and Spark Direct programs are not FDA reviewed or approved.
The company positions its treatments as first-line, non-drug alternatives that can be delivered fully digitally without waitlists, coaches or clinician intervention, and emphasizes clinical validation: more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, 22 completed randomized controlled trials, and references in clinical guidelines such as those of the American College of Physicians. Reported outcome figures include 76% improvement in sleep, 71% improvement in worry and anxiety, and 67% improvement in mood (the latter based on unpublished 2023 RCT data reflecting a 25% improvement on a validated screening measure).
Big Health sells to employers, health plans, and health systems and providers. It pioneered reimbursement for digital therapeutics via the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), allowing employers and health plans to add its products to formulary and pay through a drug claim; more recently the company has pointed to Medicare billing codes for digital mental health treatments as a driver of health system and payer adoption.
Founding story
The concept originated with co-founder Peter Hames, who developed insomnia and found that his doctor would offer only sleeping pills rather than non-drug therapy. Drawing on a degree in experimental psychology, he self-administered a course of CBT from a self-help book by Dr. Colin Espie and resolved his sleep problems in about six weeks. Concluding that a pure software approach could deliver the scalability and consistency of drugs for the hundreds of millions of people with insomnia, anxiety and depression who cannot access therapist-delivered CBT, Hames partnered with Espie as co-founder to create Big Health and its stated mission of helping millions back to good mental health.
Business model
Big Health licenses its digital treatments to organizational buyers β employers, health plans, and health systems and providers β rather than relying on clinician- or coach-delivered services. Prescription products (SleepioRx, DaylightRx) are ordered by licensed healthcare providers and positioned as reimbursable, while non-prescription programs are distributed as employer benefits.
Reimbursement and payer contracting are central: the company established billing through pharmacy benefit managers so that employers and health plans can add its therapeutics to their formulary and pay via a drug claim on the pharmacy invoice, with coverage pre-approved by major PBMs. It also cites Medicare billing codes for digital mental health treatments as a route to provider and payer payment.
Traction
The company reports more than 500,000 patients treated and supported, an app store rating of 4+, and a client implementation satisfaction score of 9.8/10. At the time of its 2022 Series C it cited over 10 million covered lives globally. Recognition includes awards for therapeutic software and mental health solutions, and clinical milestones include a JAMA study on SleepioRx in patients with comorbid insomnia and depression symptoms.
Latest developments
In February 2026 Big Health announced a $23.7 million raise, which CEO Yael Berman attributed to momentum with payer and health system customers around Medicare billing codes for digital mental health treatments. Recent company news also includes FDA clearance of DaylightRx β the first FDA-cleared non-drug treatment for generalized anxiety disorder and the company's second clearance β and a JAMA study on SleepioRx in patients with comorbid insomnia and depression symptoms, marking more than 100 peer-reviewed papers.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Big Health is described as part of the original vanguard of digital therapeutics companies and as an industry leader in digital therapeutics reimbursement and clinical evidence generation, with one of the largest peer-reviewed research bases among digital health companies. It operates in a sector that has been in a slump since Pear Therapeutics' 2023 bankruptcy and Akili Interactive's underperformance, with adoption by insurers, clinicians and patients proving slower than expected.
Key differentiators cited are the depth of clinical evidence (100+ peer-reviewed publications, 22 completed RCTs, more than 28,000 study participants, guideline citations), FDA clearance for two prescription digital therapeutics, fully automated delivery without human therapists or waitlists, and an established reimbursement pathway through pharmacy benefit managers and Medicare billing codes.
Technology
Fully automated, software-delivered CBT programs that require no coach or clinician involvement, spanning CBT for insomnia (CBT-I) and CBT for generalized anxiety disorder, delivered via web and mobile apps. Development combines clinical protocol design with consumer product design; the FDA-cleared prescription variants are regulated digital therapeutics used adjunct to usual care.
Go-to-market
Sales are enterprise and channel-led, via PBM formulary inclusion, integration into existing payer care pathways, and demo requests from employers, health plans, health systems and providers. Public-sector distribution has also been used, such as national availability through NHS services in Scotland, and a partnership with CVS Health since 2019 to simplify digital therapeutics reimbursement. Peer-reviewed evidence and clinical guideline references are used as core commercial proof points.
Employers seeking mental health benefits for employees and families; health plans wanting scalable first-line treatments for members; and health systems and providers facing patient demand and waitlists. End users are adults with insomnia disorder or generalized anxiety disorder, and, for Spark Direct, individuals including adolescents with low mood or depression symptoms.
Geography
Founded in the UK with a San Francisco base for its leadership and Series C announcement; commercial reach includes the United States, where its prescription products are FDA-cleared, and the UK, where Sleepio and Daylight were made available to all adults in Scotland through NHS services.
History
The company was founded in 2010 and began in the UK, where Hames and Espie developed and took Sleepio to market. It bootstrapped for several years and raised its first institutional funding in 2014, later relocating leadership to San Francisco. Big Health was among the first wave of digital therapeutics companies, expanding from Sleepio into Daylight for anxiety and Spark Direct for mood. In October 2021 it announced an expanded relationship with the Scottish Government making Sleepio and Daylight available to all Scottish adults through NHS services. It raised a $75 million Series C in January 2022, subsequently obtained FDA clearances for SleepioRx and DaylightRx, and in February 2026 announced a further $23.7 million raise. Yael Berman has been chief executive since 2024, succeeding co-founder Peter Hames in the CEO role.
Risks & controversies
The digital therapeutics sector has contracted since Pear Therapeutics' 2023 collapse and bankruptcy and Akili Interactive's failure to meet expectations, with persuading insurers, clinicians and patients to adopt software treatments proving harder than anticipated. Company disclosures also note that its non-prescription programs are not FDA reviewed or approved, that FDA clearance does not guarantee coverage or reimbursement, and that one headline mood outcome relies on unpublished data from a screening measure that cannot diagnose depression.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Competitors Β· 3
by search overlap
Companies competing with Big Health for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline Β· 6
launches, deals, and filingsCompany announced it had raised $23.7 million, with leadership citing momentum with payers and health system customers around Medicare billing codes for digital mental health treatments.
$23.7M source β
US FDA granted clearance for DaylightRx, described as the first FDA-cleared non-drug treatment for generalized anxiety disorder and the company's second FDA clearance.
Yael Berman has served as chief executive officer of Big Health since 2024.
Funding to accelerate the company's commercial reimbursement model and product platform, including plans to launch six new digital therapeutics by 2024.
$75M source β
Sleepio and Daylight made available to all Scottish adults through NHS services, described as the first country to make digital therapeutics for anxiety and insomnia available nationally.
Big Health has partnered with CVS Health since 2019 to simplify reimbursement for digital therapeutics.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Big Healthbighealth.com Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Big Health do?
- Big Health builds digital cognitive behavioral therapy treatments for insomnia, anxiety and low mood, including FDA-cleared products.
- Who founded Big Health?
- Big Health was founded by Peter Hames, Colin Espie.
- Who are Big Health's investors?
- Big Health's investors include .406 Ventures, AlleyCorp, Index Ventures, Innovation Global Capital, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Molten Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners, Octopus Ventures and 5 more.