TherapyStack Awards 2026
Our Second Annual List of Innovators Shaping the Future of Behavioral Health
As we move into 2026, the mental health ecosystem is transforming faster than ever. Startups across youth mental health, hybrid care, care navigation, AI-powered clinical tools, and neurodevelopmental support are reshaping how people receive care and how providers deliver it.
For the second year in a row, the TherapyStack Awards recognize the early-stage and emerging companies making the most meaningful impact. Each of the ten startups below is pioneering new models of care, scaling evidence-based services, and building the infrastructure that will define the next decade of behavioral health.
Job openings from these startups, along with hundreds more, are tracked and featured on the TherapyStack job board, making them key destinations for clinicians, operators, product talent, and mission-driven builders looking to join high-growth teams.
Here are the Top 10 Mental Health Startups of 2025—and the Companies to Watch Closely in 2026.
1. Alma: Provider Enablement & Insurance Navigation
Alma continues to redefine private practice support, offering therapists a modern platform for scheduling, billing, and accepting insurance. By reducing administrative overhead and expanding access to in-network care, Alma is one of the most important infrastructure players in the field going into 2026.
2. Author Health: Serious Mental Illness & Medicare Behavioral Care
Author Health focuses on delivering high-quality psychiatric and therapy services to seniors with serious mental illness—one of the most underserved populations in the country. Their model blends virtual care, community engagement, and specialized expertise, positioning them to lead the next wave of geriatric behavioral health innovation.
3. Backpack Healthcare: Youth & Family Virtual Mental Health
Backpack Healthcare offers virtual therapy and medication management for children, teens, and families, addressing long waitlists and access gaps. Their focus on culturally competent care and youth-specific clinical pathways makes them one of the most mission-driven startups in the pediatric mental health space.
4. Bend Health: Collaborative Care for Kids & Teens
Bend Health is modernizing pediatric behavioral health through a family-centered collaborative care model. With measurement-based care, coaching, therapy, and psychiatry all integrated into one platform, Bend is becoming a go-to solution for primary care teams and families navigating early-stage mental health concerns.
5. Blackbird Health: Neurodevelopmental Testing & Teen Behavioral Care
Blackbird Health blends clinical expertise with advanced assessment tools to support young people with autism, ADHD, anxiety, and other neurodevelopmental challenges. Their hybrid clinics and digital capabilities are filling a critical gap in diagnostic access.
6. Cartwheel: School-Based Mental Health Partnerships
Cartwheel partners directly with K–12 schools to offer therapy, psychiatry, and crisis support for students. By embedding care within school communities, Cartwheel is emerging as one of the most scalable and sustainable youth mental health models in the country.
7. Daybreak Health: School District Mental Health Programs
Daybreak Health works with school districts to deliver therapy, skill-building, and family engagement programs. Their outcomes-driven approach and district-level partnerships make them key players in addressing the youth mental health crisis at scale.
8. Eleos Health: AI Tools for Clinicians
Eleos Health provides AI “co-pilots” that help therapists with session note drafting, insights, care planning, and measurement-based care. Their clinically grounded technology reduces burnout and enables providers to spend more time with patients—not paperwork.
9. Floreo: VR Therapy for Autism & Neurodiverse Learners
Floreo uses immersive virtual reality modules to support social, emotional, and behavioral skill development in youth with autism and ADHD. With VR becoming more accessible and clinically validated, Floreo is positioned to be one of the most transformative digital therapeutics of 2026.
10. Fort Health: Insurance-Based Youth Psychiatry & Therapy
Fort Health provides accessible therapy and psychiatry for children and teens, with a strong emphasis on early intervention and family-centered care. Their insurance-first model makes high-quality youth mental health services significantly more affordable for families.
Why These Startups Stand Out
Across this year’s cohort, key themes emerge:
Youth mental health is the defining challenge of our time. (Bend, Blackbird, Backpack, Cartwheel, Daybreak, Fort)
Technology is supercharging clinical care. (Eleos, Floreo)
Provider support and care navigation remain critical. (Alma)
Specialized populations are finally getting attention. (Author Health)
Interested in joining one of these missions? Find job openings at these companies and hundreds more on the TherapyStack job board—reflecting their momentum, growth, and ongoing investment in building strong teams.