Tony Robbins and Calm Alums Launch AI Therapy App The Path with $14.3M Seed Funding
The Path, an innovative AI-driven therapy and coaching app, has successfully secured $14.3 million in seed funding, primarily from Prime Movers Lab. Among its prominent backers are athlete Apolo Anton Ohno and boxer Deontay Wilder. Founded by Anson Whitmer and Tyler Sheaffer, both ex-employees of the Calm meditation app, the platform features 11 customizable virtual therapists. Noteworthy is its impressive score of 95 on the Vera-MH safety assessment, significantly higher than the average for consumer chatbots. Currently available for free, the app plans to implement a $40 monthly subscription, drawing inspiration from personal family experiences.
Key facts
- The Path raised $14.3 million in seed funding led by Prime Movers Lab.
- Investors include Apolo Anton Ohno, Deontay Wilder, and Designer Fund.
- Co-founders: Anson Whitmer (CEO), Tyler Sheaffer, and Tony Robbins.
- Whitmer and Sheaffer are former early employees at Calm.
- The app offers 11 virtual AI therapists with customizable preferences.
- The AI model scored 95 on the Vera-MH mental health safety benchmark.
- Consumer chatbots scored up to 65 on the same benchmark.
- The Path is currently free, with a planned subscription of $40 per month.
- Whitmer earned a PhD in psychology after two family suicides.
- The AI is post-trained from open source models, not a wrapper over major LLMs.
Entities
Artists
- Tony Robbins
- Apolo Anton Ohno
- Deontay Wilder
Institutions
- The Path
- Prime Movers Lab
- Designer Fund
- Calm
- TechCrunch
- OpenAI