Sword Health, a globally leading AI Care company, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $40 million in funding at a $4 billion valuation to accelerate the evolution of its AI-powered care models, expand into new areas of healthcare, and advance its ongoing M&A initiatives.
The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Lince Capital, Oxy Capital, Armilar, Indico Capital, and Shilling.
The announcement coincides with the launch of Mind, a mental health solution that combines cutting-edge artificial intelligence with licensed clinicians to offer continuous, personalized support.
Unlike traditional therapy models that typically rely on infrequent sessions lasting around 40 minutes, Mind introduces a proactive care model that adapts in real time to each user’s needs, offering an always-on support system.
“By fusing sophisticated AI with human clinical expertise, Sword is re-imagining the entire care continuum – from physical pain care to today’s launch of Mind for mental health – expanding access, improving outcomes, and lowering costs at global scale,” said Chris Bischoff, managing director at General Catalyst and board member at Sword.
Mind is built on three core innovations, according to the company, which was founded in Portugal in 2015 and is now headquartered in New York.
The first is Phoenix, an AI therapist designed to deliver highly personalized mental health care through a holistic and tailored approach.
The second is M-band, a proprietary wearable that captures users’ physiological and environmental data, detecting early indicators of conditions like anxiety and depression. This data enables proactive outreach from the care team.
The third component is a network of Ph.D.-level clinicians who collaborate with the AI to provide responsive, context-aware support, ensuring the human touch remains central to care.
By integrating technology and clinical expertise, Sword Health aims to transform mental health from a fragmented, reactive system into a continuous and accessible model of care.
The company says this approach not only increases engagement but also improves outcomes, offering employers a results-based model in which they pay only when measurable improvements are achieved.
“Treating more than half a million people and saving clients nearly a billion dollars in unnecessary healthcare costs has proven that Sword’s pioneering AI Care Model is the future of healthcare,” said Virgilio Bento, founder and CEO of Sword Health.
“This funding is a milestone that allows us to deepen our foundational AI research and to accelerate our expansion into new healthcare verticals like mental health – a field still dominated by unscalable and ineffective models.”
Globally, mental health remains a critical challenge: more than one in eight people – over a billion individuals – live with a mental disorder, with depression and anxiety among the most prevalent. These conditions contribute to an estimated loss of 12 billion working days annually, resulting in $1 trillion in lost productivity each year.
Featured image: Mind, Sword Health’s new AI-powered mental health solution, promises continuous, personalized support by combining advanced AI technology with expert clinical care. (Photo credit: Sword Health)
Portugal Startup News 