Sonder
Founded 2016 · 316 employees on LinkedIn · 7 known investors
Sonder is an app-based wellbeing service combining mental health, medical and safety support with 24/7 human care from specialists and clinicians, positioned as a replacement for traditional Employee Assistance Programs. It serves employers and their workforces, offering real-time alerts, de-identified risk reporting on psychosocial hazards, and early-intervention support, with a focus on the Australian market.
Also known as Sonder
Founders & leadership
Sonder was founded in 2016 by Craig Cowdrey.
Investors · 7
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountSeries BSep 2022Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Sonder operates an employee wellbeing platform that combines risk intelligence, early intervention and outcome reporting for employers. Its member-facing app provides a single entry point to mental health support (assessments, self-help resources, counselling and psychology), medical support delivered by registered nurses and telehealth GPs, and personal safety tools. Members can reach trained professionals 24/7 by phone or instant chat, with the company stating connection times of 30 seconds or less and a holistic triage covering physical, mental, social and safety needs.
The platform's app features include proactive push notifications for health alerts, local incidents and hazards relevant to a member's location; personal safety tools such as "Check on me" scheduled check-ins, "Track my journey" journey tracking and "Help alerts" that trigger a response from Sonder's team; and a wellbeing resource hub with health advice, recipes, guided meditations, learning programs and interactive questionnaires including DASS-21 assessments. Additional modules cover manager support (coaching and 1:1 specialist sessions), critical incident response delivered in person by trained "Sonder Responders", team safety features such as shift sharing and check-ins for frontline and distributed teams, and injury management with early treatment and clinical advice to support return to work.
On the employer side, the Sonder Portal gives HR, work health and safety, and risk leaders a real-time, aggregated and de-identified view of workforce health and safety trends, filterable by team, division and time period. It surfaces psychosocial hazard themes, team and cohort risk breakdowns, and exportable executive and board reports intended to evidence controls and support WHS obligations. Sonder frames this within a psychosocial risk management framework of identify, understand, act and improve.
Business model
Sonder sells its wellbeing platform to employer organisations, which provide app-based access to their workforces as members; the company positions the service as an alternative to traditional Employee Assistance Programs and argues it pays for itself through reduced absence, lower claim frequency and severity, and better retention and return-to-work outcomes.
Traction
The company states it supports over 1,317,289 members across client organisations. A published customer case study describes cinema operator HOYTS achieving a 15% decrease in frontline staff turnover. Sonder also cites outcomes of a 24% reduction in employee churn, 15% reduction in absenteeism, 10% saving in lost manager time and a 26% increase in individual productivity for organisations that detect and act earlier.
Latest developments
Sonder has scheduled the Sonder Summit 2026 for 17 September 2026, an online event convening leaders around health, safety and wellbeing support.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market
Market position
Positioned as an alternative to traditional Employee Assistance Programs, differentiating on early detection and intervention before crisis rather than periodic surveys or EAP utilisation reporting.
Sonder emphasises pre-crisis detection and intervention, combining mental health, medical and personal safety support in one platform with 24/7 human response, in-person critical incident responders, and live de-identified psychosocial risk reporting in place of annual surveys or retrospective EAP utilisation reports.
Technology
A member mobile app combined with an employer-facing analytics portal. The app delivers location-relevant push alerts, safety tools (journey tracking, scheduled check-ins, help alerts), assessments including DASS-21, and 24/7 phone and chat access to human support. Signals from mental health, safety and physical health interactions are consolidated into a reporting layer providing aggregated, de-identified, real-time workforce risk insights.
Go-to-market
Direct enterprise sales, with website calls to action to request a demo or talk to sales, supported by customer case studies, an ROI calculator, published resources, a trust centre covering accreditations and compliance, and the Sonder Summit event for leaders.
Employers and their workforces, with buyer personas in HR, work health and safety, and risk leadership; use cases highlighted include frontline and distributed teams, young first-job workforces, and organisations managing psychosocial risk and WHS obligations.
Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — 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 — not independently audited.
Timeline · 1
launches, deals, and filingsSonder has announced Sonder Summit 2026, an online event on 17 September 2026 bringing leaders together on health, safety and wellbeing support.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 1
primary sources listed
- Sondersonder.io · web
1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Sonder do?
- Sonder is an employee wellbeing platform offering 24/7 medical, mental health and safety support as an EAP alternative.
- Who founded Sonder?
- Sonder was founded by Craig Cowdrey in 2016.
- Who are Sonder's investors?
- Sonder's investors include Five V Capital, Perennial Partners, Tidal Ventures, Blackbird Ventures, MA Growth Ventures, SecondQuarter Ventures, SEEK Investments.