Tony Robbins-backed AI therapy app The Path raises $14.3M

The Path, a mental health startup co-founded by Tony Robbins and Calm alumni Anson Whitmer and Tyler Sheaffer, has raised $14.3 million in seed funding led by Prime Movers Lab to develop an AI-driven therapy app. Robbins, a renowned motivational speaker, joined after being impressed by the startup’s AI interactive audio feature, which gained traction in their prior app, Mental. Whitmer, who lost family members to suicide and holds a PhD in psychology, sees AI as the solution to the global shortage of therapists, noting that 900 million people already use ChatGPT weekly for mental health queries.

The Path’s AI model is custom-trained for therapy, scoring 95 on the Vera-MH mental health safety benchmark compared to 65 for consumer chatbots. Unlike consumer models optimized for engagement, The Path’s AI is designed to challenge users and guide them toward self-discovery. The app offers 11 virtual therapists with customizable preferences and is currently free, with plans to introduce a $40/month subscription. Whitmer emphasizes the model’s post-training from open-source foundations, avoiding reliance on major consumer LLMs to ensure safety and efficacy.