Porto-based Sword Health, a fast-growing HealthTech startup, has secured €34.6 million in fresh funding to bring its AI-powered care model to the world of mental health—tackling a global crisis with cutting-edge technology.
The new investment, which values Sword Health at €3.4 billion, is aimed at accelerating the company’s global expansion and deepening its work on foundational AI models. The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from prominent investors including Khosla Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Lince Capital, Oxy Capital, Armilar, Indico Capital, and Shilling.
Founded in 2015, Sword Health began by using AI to treat physical pain remotely. Over the years, it expanded into pelvic and movement health. Now, the company is taking a bold leap into the mental health space with the launch of Mind, a platform it claims could transform how psychological care is delivered globally.
“We’ve replaced a century-old, labor-intensive care model with AI that removes barriers to world-class care,” said founder and CEO Virgilio Bento. “This new funding allows us to do for mental health what we did for physical pain: make care accessible, scalable, and deeply personal.”
Mind is Sword’s AI-first approach to mental health, combining a personalized AI agent (“Phoenix”), a proprietary wearable (“M-band”), and daily support from Ph.D.-level clinicians. Together, these tools form a 24/7 care system that departs from traditional, episodic therapy sessions and instead provides real-time, continuous mental health support.
According to the startup, more than a billion people suffer from mental health conditions worldwide, yet most receive little or no effective care. In the U.S. alone, over 60 million adults experienced mental illness last year—but few had access to regular, quality treatment.
Sword aims to address this gap by reimagining therapy from the ground up—replacing fragmented, once-a-week check-ins with an always-on, AI-enhanced care model. The system is designed to detect early signs of anxiety or depression and proactively alert licensed clinicians for intervention.
“Sword is reimagining the care continuum,” said Chris Bischoff, Managing Director at General Catalyst and a Sword board member. “From musculoskeletal treatment to mental health, they’re making high-quality care more accessible, effective, and affordable.”
The numbers back up the company’s ambitions. Since 2020, over 500,000 users across three continents have completed 6.5 million sessions through Sword’s platform. The startup claims its enterprise clients have saved nearly €865 million in avoidable healthcare costs.
With this latest funding round, Sword’s total raise stands at over €259 million. The startup is now positioning itself not just as a virtual care platform, but as a pioneer of AI-first healthcare—one that blends clinical expertise with intelligent systems to solve some of the industry’s most pressing challenges.
As mental health continues to be a global pain point, Sword’s tech-driven approach may offer a scalable alternative to overstretched and outdated systems. The company is betting that the future of care isn’t just digital—it’s proactive, data-driven, and always on.
