Many digital health companies have crashed and burned after promising investors speedy adoption and huge revenues. Freespira, maker of a software- and device-based treatment for panic and post-traumatic stress disorders, has taken a different strategy: Slowly build to profitability a few thousand patients at a time.
Freespira CEO Joe Perekupka told STAT the company believes it will break even by the end of 2025 and will become cash flow positive in 2026. Freespira recently raised $10 million to fuel its growth and to make product improvements that will eventually reduce costs. Perekupka said Freespira hopes to enroll 2,500 people in its treatment this year — twice last year’s sales — and to double its patients again in 2025 and 2026. The Kirkland, Wash.-based company was founded in 2013 and has raised $60 million to date. Perekupka declined to disclose a valuation or whether it increased with the most recent fundraise.
Freespira’s Food and Drug Administration-cleared treatment isn’t automatically paid for by insurers, so its business strategy is centered on building deep relationships with regional health plans willing to experiment with paying for something new, and with which it can collaborate to drive adoption. It has signed up five payers to date and hopes to add an average of three more per year.
