Blackstone Group Inc. is leading a $100 million funding round in on-demand mental-health company Ginger, accelerating a push into fast-growing technology startups. The funds will come out of the investment firm’s growth equity arm, Blackstone and Ginger said. The stake values the San Francisco-based service at about $1 billion, vaulting it to unicorn status.
Demand for resources provided by Ginger, which connects users to behavioral health experts via a mobile app, is surging in the Covid-19 pandemic. The company’s revenue has tripled in the past year.
“There’s a widespread prevalence of mental health issues in this country,” said Ram Jagannath, who heads health-care investing for Blackstone Growth Equity. “Like other sectors of health care, the pandemic exacerbated the underlying trends and accelerated people’s adoption of digital platforms.”
Blackstone recently announced the final close of its first growth equity fund at $4.5 billion. Its New York-based growth vehicle has made several investments, including backing online dating company Bumble Inc. prior to its initial public offering, vegan food products maker Oatly, enterprise software provider ISN Software Corp. and Epidemic Sound, a royalty-free music company.
Source: BNN Bloomberg
By Gillian Tan and Heather Perlberg
