Two Chairs

Two Chairs offers a comprehensive mental health system that precisely matches individuals with appropriate care, including therapy and psychiatry. Leveraging a data-driven and technology-enabled approach, the company prioritizes measurement-based care to optimize outcomes across numerous clinical specialties. This model aims to provide personalized and effective treatment, ensuring individuals receive the most suitable support for their specific needs.

The company was founded in 2017 by Alex Katz, whose personal experiences with the mental healthcare system inspired the creation of a more effective and accessible solution. Katz recognized the systemic challenges in finding personalized and affordable care that consistently yields positive results, driving the insight to build an improved model focused on trust, evidence, and collaborative treatment.

Two Chairs serves individuals seeking high-quality mental health services, providing tailored support designed to help them feel better, faster. The company’s overarching vision is to lead the way in transforming mental health care, increasing access to exceptional care that genuinely works for everyone. It strives to establish a future where personalized and outcomes-focused mental health support is universally available.

# Two Chairs: High-Level Overview

Two Chairs is a behavioral health provider that combines in-person and virtual therapy with proprietary technology to deliver high-quality mental health care at scale.[1] Founded in 2017, the company operates a hybrid model where licensed therapists treat patients primarily through virtual sessions, supplemented by physical clinics in key markets.[3] Two Chairs serves patients through partnerships with major insurers like Aetna and Kaiser Permanente, as well as direct-pay clients, with access to over 20 million covered lives.[2]

The company addresses a critical gap in mental health care: the shortage of accessible, high-quality therapy. Two Chairs tackles this by employing over 500 full-time licensed therapists across 90 areas of expertise and using a proprietary matching algorithm to connect patients with their ideal providers.[1][2] The company has demonstrated strong growth momentum, expanding revenue eightfold over three years and raising $103 million in total funding, including a $72 million Series C round in April 2024 led by Amplo and Fifth Down Capital.[1][3]

# Origin Story

Alex Katz founded Two Chairs in 2017 with a conviction that in-person therapy was the most effective approach to behavioral health.[3] The company initially operated through stylishly designed brick-and-mortar clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area, using technology as a matching tool rather than a delivery mechanism.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a strategic pivot. When lockdowns moved the world online, Two Chairs adapted by shifting to a remote-first model while maintaining at least one physical location in each state it serves.[3] This transition proved transformative—the remote-first approach enabled faster, more cost-efficient growth than the original in-person-focused strategy would have allowed. Today, the majority of Two Chairs' therapists treat clients virtually, though the company maintains clinics in California, Washington, and Florida.[1][3]

# Core Differentiators

• Proprietary patient-provider matching algorithm: Two Chairs developed a 300-variable algorithm that uses research-backed methodology to match patients with their ideal therapist, resulting in 97% of clients reporting a strong therapeutic alliance.[1]

• Measurement-based care system: The company employs an industry-leading system to track patient progress and accelerate improvement, distinguishing it from traditional therapy models that rely primarily on clinical judgment.[2]

• Employment-first clinician model: Rather than contracting independent therapists, Two Chairs employs over 500 full-time licensed clinicians on W-2 contracts, providing financial stability and support that enables therapists to thrive.[5] This approach has earned 9 in 10 therapists recommending Two Chairs as a great place to work.[5]

• Exceptional retention and outcomes: The company reports that 90% of patients attend their fourth session, significantly higher than the industry average of 36%.[1] This metric indicates both strong patient-provider fit and clinical effectiveness.

• Hybrid delivery model: By combining virtual-first treatment with selective in-person clinics, Two Chairs achieves scalability without sacrificing the human connection essential to mental health care.[3]

# Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Two Chairs operates at the intersection of three powerful trends: the mental health crisis, the shift toward virtual care, and the application of technology to improve clinical outcomes. The U.S. faces a severe shortage of mental health professionals, with demand far outpacing supply—a problem that traditional brick-and-mortar therapy cannot solve alone.

The company's success demonstrates that technology can enhance rather than replace human care. While AI and automation dominate healthtech discourse, Two Chairs shows that the highest-value innovation in behavioral health involves using algorithms to optimize human connection—matching patients with the right therapist and measuring outcomes to drive continuous improvement.[3] This positions Two Chairs within a broader movement toward "augmented care" rather than automated care.

The company's growth also reflects the normalization of virtual mental health delivery post-pandemic. Insurance coverage for telehealth therapy has expanded significantly, and consumer acceptance has shifted dramatically. Two Chairs' ability to scale nationally through virtual delivery while maintaining quality metrics suggests that geography is no longer a constraint for accessing high-quality care—a fundamental shift in how mental health services are distributed.

# Quick Take & Future Outlook

Two Chairs is well-positioned to become a national leader in behavioral health delivery. The company's $72 million Series C funding signals investor confidence in its model and provides capital to expand into new states beyond California, Washington, and Florida.[1][3] With additional insurance partnerships expected to finalize in 2024, Two Chairs' addressable market will expand significantly.[1]

The key challenge ahead is scaling without compromising quality—a tension the company acknowledges explicitly.[5] As Two Chairs grows, maintaining its culture of clinical excellence and therapist satisfaction while managing unit economics will be critical. The company's commitment to full-time employment and measurement-based care is more expensive than traditional telehealth models, but the superior outcomes data suggest this premium approach may command higher reimbursement rates and stronger payer partnerships.

Looking forward, Two Chairs' influence will likely extend beyond its direct patient base. By demonstrating that technology-enabled, outcomes-focused behavioral health can achieve both clinical excellence and financial viability at scale, the company is reshaping how the industry thinks about mental health delivery—proving that quality and growth need not be in tension.