By Sam Nussey
TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp’s Vision Fund 2 has led an $80 million Series D financing round in digital therapeutics startup Pear Therapeutics in its latest healthcare investment.
Boston and San Francisco-based Pear, which offers app-based therapy and tracking tools for patients in treatment for insomnia and substance abuse, also received backing from Singapore state investor Temasek and drug maker Novartis, it said in a statement.
“We saw a tremendous opportunity to work with the SoftBank team closely to really think about and execute upon ex-U.S. geographic expansion,” said Corey McCann, CEO of Pear Therapeutics.
The pandemic has fuelled a rise in patients suffering from problems like insomnia and has prompted regulators grappling with rising healthcare costs to look to technology as the industry lags others in shifting online.
Healthcare investments from Vision Fund 2, which has $10 billion in committed capital from SoftBank, include health tracking wearables startup Biofourmis.
“We can come in with not just our capital but our entire ecosystem to help accelerate their journey,” said Kirthiga Reddy, a partner at SoftBank Investment Advisors.
Pear’s CEO McCann declined to disclose the startup’s valuation after the latest round.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
