Yung Sidekick, an AI-powered mental health assistant platform, raised $825K in pre-seed funding to allow therapists to focus more on their clients.
Yung Sidekick, AI-powered mental health assistant platform based in the US and aimed at easing the administrative burden for mental health professionals, has raised $825K in pre-seed funding. Led by Altair Capital and Ultra.VC, the funding round will help accelerate the development of its AI technology, which automates administrative tasks like notetaking, giving therapists more time to focus on their clients.
For many therapists, administrative overload can be a daily struggle. Picture a mental health professional juggling multiple patients, only to spend hours afterwards on paperwork, transcribing notes, and managing electronic health records (EHR). The pressure of an already heavy workload combined with these additional tasks is a recipe for burnout. Yung Sidekick’s platform is designed to help therapists reclaim that time, allowing them to spend more energy on the people who need it most— their patients.
AI innovation set to transform mental health admin
Founded in 2022, Yung Sidekick has already processed over 30,000 therapy sessions and currently serves over one hundred clients. Its platform allows therapists to record sessions, which are then transcribed automatically by AI. From these transcriptions, the system extracts key information such as symptoms, medications, and therapeutic goals, producing EHR-ready progress notes in just two minutes. This eliminates hours of manual documentation and helps mental health professionals reduce the risk of burnout.
“Every minute spent on paperwork is a minute taken away from patient care,” said Stanley Efrem, co-founder of Yung Sidekick. “Our mission is to empower mental health professionals to dedicate more time to meaningful client interactions by reducing administrative overload.”
Beyond simplifying documentation, Yung Sidekick is set to roll out an AI assistant that can help therapists recall session details, such as a client’s exact words, or even highlight when certain diagnosis markers suggest further assessment. This feature could be a game changer for therapists working with multiple clients, providing them with valuable insights at the right moments.
Enhancing therapy with automated insights
Yung Sidekick is more than just a note-taking tool. The platform provides detailed session reports for both therapists and patients, offering deeper insights into client behaviours, resilience strategies, and therapeutic progress. It even offers ‘meta’ reports for clients who have had multiple sessions, providing a holistic overview of their psychological history.
Yung Sidekick also ensures the utmost security. The platform is fully HIPAA-compliant and does not store any personal health information. All session audio is deleted immediately after processing, and the generated notes are anonymised to protect client privacy.
“While our current focus is on helping therapists, our long-term vision is to evolve Yung Sidekick into a provider-patient platform,” said Michael Reider, CEO and co-founder of Yung Sidekick. “We plan to introduce more patient-focused features, such as AI-driven client chat, to create a more holistic and effective therapy experience for both sides of the therapeutic process.”
A future of smarter mental health care
As demand for mental health care services continues to rise, many psychologists are feeling the strain, with 45% reporting burnout according to the American Psychological Association. Yung Sidekick’s technology aims to reduce this burden, and with its new pre-seed funding, the company is poised to expand its offerings even further.
By reducing the time spent on documentation and delivering valuable insights to therapists, Yung Sidekick is pushing the boundaries of how AI can be used in mental health care. This $825K funding round is just the beginning for the Miami-based startup as it continues to build on its vision of making therapy more efficient and impactful for both providers and patients.
With its combination of cutting-edge AI and a deep understanding of the mental health landscape, Yung Sidekick looks set to play a significant role in shaping the future of mental health services.
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