Mental Health Startup BetterUp Lands In London & Eyes Up Local Talent

LONDON, United Kingdom — BetterUp, the virtual coaching platform boasting Prince Harry as its Chief Impact Officer, is putting down roots in Europe with new offices in Munich and London.

According to the eight-year-old company, the decision follows a year of skyrocketing growth for scalable services that support employee wellbeing and development, as well as those that strengthen mental fitness for individuals. 

Its official expansion into Europe, it argues, will further solidify the company’s stature as “the most comprehensive and personalised enterprise employee experience in the world”. To make that happen it plans on appointing several behavioural scientists, engineers, account executives, marketers, and operations professionals in the region, tasked with accelerating product innovation tailored to the European market. 

The company expects its total European headcount to reach 150 in the next year, including representation in France, Benelux, and Sweden.

“This is the beginning of the next chapter of growth for BetterUp, and we are not slowing down,” said Alexi Robichaux, CEO and Co-Founder. 

“Though we have done business in Europe since 2016, we are committing to a new level of investment in our customers, coaches, and communities by establishing offices in Munich and London. Not only will we be able to better support our enterprise partners and their teams, but we’ll also be helping individual members unlock their full potential and achieve peak performance,” he added.

Having recently surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, more than doubling its revenue and growing its entire customer base by over 80 percent, the last twelve months have helped to establish BetterUp on the global stage. And the milestones haven’t stopped there.

Its continued momentum has also been bolstered by a $125 million Series D raise, led by ICONIQ Growth with participation by existing investors, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Threshold Ventures, and Plus Capital. And a subsequent $1.73 billion valuation.

Key leadership team additions such as Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, as the company’s Chief Impact Officer, have also boosted brand visibility, which is likely to have had an impact on its international membership increasing by 151 percent.

Currently, BetterUp’s international business represents 25 percent of its members, who access the platform through global enterprise partners including Allianz, Hilton, Snap Inc. and Mars — a figure it wants to increase.

And demand is certainly there. 

A recent survey conducted by Deloitte, featuring 27,000 Millennials and Gen-Zers from across the globe found nearly half ranked mental health as their first or second priority.

A further study by Mind Share, a non-profit organisation that works with companies to improve mental health resources, also revealed that 50 percent of millennials have at some point left a job for mental health reasons. This figure increased to 75 percent for Gen Z, highlighting the serious gaps that exist within many organisations.

“If business leaders want to actively help millennials and Gen Z to thrive at work, they need to prioritize mental health and embed a workplace culture where stigma does not exist,” argues Emma Codd, Inclusion leader at Deloitte International.