Ginger, Headspace merge to create one mental wellbeing platform

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an enormous mental health impact.

According to the World Health Organization, “added to the fear of contracting the virus in a pandemic such as COVID-19 are the significant changes to our daily lives as our movements are restricted in support of efforts to contain and slow down the spread of the virus.”

People across the world have been “faced with new realities of working from home, temporary unemployment, home-schooling of children, and lack of physical contact with other family members, friends and colleagues”, all of which has an impact on mental health.

In the context of this, two platforms that support both consumers and companies’ employees with their wellbeing and mental health, Ginger and Headspace are merging. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The combined company will be called Headspace Health and will have a combined value of $3 billion and support 2,700 enterprise and health plan partners globally.

While both companies have always relied on scientific research to power its mental health products for employees and individuals, they have taken slightly different routes.

Ginger has been focused more on cutting edge technology like AI and data science to create a personalized experience for every user, while Headspace has been laser focused on providing its mindfulness and meditation app and products to users through integrations with the likes of Netflix, Microsoft, Apple, the BBC and Spotify.

Now those capabilities will be combined and the joint entity will rely even more on technology to provide their products to anyone in need at scale in an affordable manner.

On the completion of the deal, Ginger’s CEO Russell Glass will become the CEO of Headspace Health, while CeCe Morken will remain Headspace’s CEO and president of the joint company.

Talking about the deal, Morken said: “We are witnessing a mental health crisis unlike anything we’ve experienced in our lifetimes, yet the majority of mental healthcare today is neither broadly accessible nor affordable.

“Together, as Headspace Health, we will address the systemic challenges of access and affordability in a fundamentally different way by creating the world’s most holistic, scalable, and effective mental health and wellbeing company.”

Glass added: “Headspace and Ginger have a shared recognition that the mental health crisis can’t be solved by simply hiring more therapists or moving care online.

“Through this merger, we can uniquely tackle the full spectrum of mental health needs – from prevention to clinical care – all from one integrated platform.”