Pre-seed funding for Clare&me.

With the artificial intelligence Clare, the newly founded start-up wants to counteract the shortage of therapy places. The idea convinced business angels and venture capitalists.

Berlin-based healthcare start-up Clare&me received pre-seed funding of one million euros at the end of last year. The company has now announced this. The round was led by Munich-based healthtech fund YZR. Antler and several business angels also participated. Among them are Clue, Crisis Chat and Hy founder Hans Raffauf, Oviavo founder Jenny Saft, Jan Wilmking, Impacct founder Heidrun Twesten and Tomorrow founders Inas Nureldin and Michael Schweikart.

Clare&me intends to use the capital to expand its team and further develop its product for the treatment of mental illness. This is based on an artificial intelligence called Clare, which conducts conversations with users via their smartphones and teaches them clinically proven approaches to behavioral therapy. In doing so, the software aims to provide low-threshold access to treatment for anxiety symptoms and depression. "Maintaining and promoting the mental health of individuals is one of the greatest overall societal challenges of our time. We want to proactively help close the gap between need and supply of mental health support," says Clare&me co-founder Celina Messner.

Emilia Theye and Celina Messner founded Clare&me in 2021 in Berlin. Earlier this year, Xaver Ebner joined as a technical co-founder. The prototype is currently being tested in the UK.