Teladoc wrapped up a bumpy Q1 with the acquisition of virtual therapy provider Uplift, a move that it hopes will help turnaround its persistently problematic BetterHelp segment.
UpLift provides virtual therapy, psychiatry, and medication management services – all crucially covered by most major commercial payors, as well as Medicare and Medicaid.
- The deal adds over 100M covered lives and a network of 1,500 mental health clinicians, which Teladoc plans to integrate with BetterHelp to give its customers access to in-network treatment options.
The $30M acquisition shores up one of the most glaring weaknesses of BetterHelp’s cash-pay-only DTC mental health offerings, with Teladoc citing out-of-pocket costs as one of the primary barriers preventing potential customers from signing up.
- UpLift generated $15M of revenue last year – a drop in the bucket compared to the $1B that BetterHelp brought in – but it’s anyone’s guess as to how much of a lift Teladoc will see from the “significantly higher conversion rates” it expects for new members.
In the wake of the pandemic, BetterHelp has eroded from one of Teladoc’s most promising assets to a constant pain point on investor calls, including a $790M impairment in Q2 2024.
- Setting aside the scathing short report that accused BetterHelp therapists of using ChatGPT to respond to patients during sessions, the segment’s also been facing pressure from rising ad costs that have made it difficult to keep user growth steady.
- Teladoc now expects BetterHelp revenue to fall between 7.5% to 11.25% next quarter, before returning to form later in the year thanks to stickier relationships courtesy of Uplift.
It’s also interesting to see Teladoc pick up another company at a 2X revenue multiple after paying the same rate for Catapult Health back in February.
- Not exactly a lofty valuation for an established company with real revenue, especially considering the fairytale multiples we’re seeing startups command in AI Land.
The Takeaway
Acquiring Uplift’s existing payor partnerships should definitely accelerate BetterHelp’s ability to start accepting insurance, a much needed move given its recent difficulty wrangling new customers. Although an immaculate M&A track record isn’t something that Teladoc has going for it, this particular acquisition seems to make a lot of sense on paper.
