Calm, a relaxation app, has acquired the company that operates the Ripple Health Group. It will now be led by David Ko and Michael Acton Smith, the former CEO of Spotify. Through the acquisition, the team at Ripple will focus on building a suite of services that support mental health. Their objective is to shed more light on the growing mental health crisis around the globe.
Current Valuation Kept Private
Neither of the companies involved in this acquisition has allowed the value to be disclosed to the public. Calm App is a private company. They are a startup already valued at over $2 billion. The last valuation was completed in December 2020.
As part of its effort to support mental health, Ripple will continue developing its original products such as Care Memo and LikePaper. Smith said the acquisition will allow them to reach more people and make services more widely available. Currently, they only offer a few free services.
Co-Founder Steps in as Executive
Smith and Alex Tew founded Calm in 2012 intending to help people avoid experiencing mental health issues. Tew is now going to be filling the role of executive chairman for the company. He believes the company is just getting its momentum and they will be reaching more people a lot quicker in the coming years.
Before Ripple, Ko was the president and chief operating officer of Rally Health, which was purchased by UnitedHealth Group in 2017. After talking about what they could do together, Smith and Ko decided to combine their companies to try and solve the global mental health crisis.
Ko said that he was impressed by the user base of Calm, which has over a hundred million downloads. While helping people manage their mental health challenges, Calm can also help them improve their overall well-being.
Mental Health Crisis
According to the World Health Organization, around one in four people will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives. Before the pandemic, Calm was growing at a fast pace. In 2020, it partnered with a start-up called Lyra Health to help provide employee mental health services.
Smith believes the expansion and growth of the company are due to mental health issues getting discussed more on the world stage. Amid the pandemic, Smith said that society is still dealing with the effects of the disease. He noted that it will still have a long-term impact on society.