Meet the top 9 startups raising millions to use psychedelics to treat depression, anxiety, and more

Yeji Jesse Lee

Mar 16, 2020, 21:13 IST

Meet the top 9 startups raising millions to use psychedelics to treat depression, anxiety, and more

Psilocybin mushrooms

Investment in psychedelics has ramped up in recent years and companies say that interest from traditional biotech and pharma investors has picked up as well.
Key investors, like former Canopy Growth CEO Bruce Linton, hail from the cannabis sector. Others, like PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel have been interested in the industry for years now.
Business Insider identified the top nine companies that are working to turn psychedelics into approved medicines, for conditions like depression and anxiety. We used a list provided by CB Insights , and reached out to the companies to confirm how much money they've raised.
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It's no secret that investors have been eyeing psychedelics in recent years.

Several cannabis investors have already made the jump, including former Canopy Growth CEO Bruce Linton, who sits on the board of directors at psychedelics company MindMed. Former cannabis entrepreneurs and investors Ronan Levy, Joseph del Moral, and Hannan Fleiman founded psychedelics company Field Trip Ventures last year.

Psychedelic companies say that interest from traditional biotech and pharma backers has been growing steadily and seriously picking up in early 2020. Helping boost the industry, Johnson & Johnson's ketamine-inspired drug Spravato was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2019 to treat serious forms of depression that don't respond to other treatments. Ketamine is a somewhat psychedelic substance that's used as a surgical anesthetic.

In the midst of the investment rush, clinics aimed at administering psychedelic-based treatments for mental health have started to spring up. Mindbloom recently opened up its first clinic for psychedelic treatment in New York City and Field Trip Ventures, which started out as an investment vehicle for psychedelics companies, told Business Insider it plans to open 50 to 60 psychedelic clinics across Canada and the US by 2023.

Data provided by CB Insights shows that equity funding for psychedelic medicine has ramped up since 2017, when investors put $2.8 million into the sector. The following year saw a huge jump, with $70.5 million poured into the industry, and 2020 has already seen $32.7 million invested into the space.

Based on data from CB Insights, Business Insider put together a list of the top startups in the psychedelics space. They include from those working on drugs using the psychedelics psilocybin and ibogaine to firms setting up clinics across to administer the treatments. We contacted every startup to verify the information.