The Path Raises $14M to Build a Safer AI Therapy App

A new mental health startup called The Path is aiming to change how people interact with AI for emotional support and therapy. Backed by motivational speaker Tony Robbins and former employees of Calm, the company says it wants to create a safer and more thoughtful alternative to mainstream AI chatbots.

The startup recently raised $14.3 million in seed funding led by Prime Movers Lab, where Robbins is also a partner. Other investors include Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, boxer Deontay Wilder, and Designer Fund.

The idea for The Path emerged after the founders noticed strong user engagement with AI-generated interactive audio features inside their previous mental health app for men called Mental. That discovery led co-founders Anson Whitmer and Tyler Sheaffer to explore whether AI could deliver more personalized emotional support at scale.

Whitmer’s interest in mental health technology comes from deeply personal experiences. He told TechCrunch that two family tragedies shaped his career path. First, his uncle died by suicide when Whitmer was 19. Later, while he was in college pursuing psychology studies, a cousin left him a voicemail asking for help before also taking his own life.

Those experiences pushed Whitmer toward building technology that could make mental health support more widely available. After working at Calm until 2021, he realized that traditional wellness apps could only go so far.

“People’s problems are too personal and too unique,” Whitmer explained. He believes there simply are not enough therapists in the world to provide individualized support for everyone who needs it.

That is where AI enters the picture.

According to Whitmer, large language models could eventually bridge the global mental health accessibility gap by providing scalable, personalized guidance. The idea is already becoming mainstream. OpenAI has reportedly said that hundreds of millions of people use ChatGPT for mental health-related questions every week.

However, Whitmer argues that consumer AI chatbots are fundamentally flawed for therapy because they are optimized for engagement rather than genuine emotional progress. He says many chatbots tend to reinforce user beliefs and quickly offer answers instead of helping people deeply understand their problems.

The Path claims its AI is trained differently.

Instead of simply agreeing with users, the app is designed to challenge assumptions and guide users toward self-discovery over time. Whitmer says the company’s AI model achieved a score of 95 on the Vera-MH mental health safety benchmark, compared to top consumer chatbot scores closer to 65.

The company also says it does not rely directly on major consumer AI models. Instead, its system is post-trained using open-source models tailored specifically for therapeutic conversations.

The Path currently offers users a choice between 11 AI “therapists,” with customization options for communication style, including how direct or supportive the AI should be during sessions.

For now, the app remains free while the company grows its user base. Eventually, The Path plans to introduce a subscription model priced at around $40 per month.

As AI becomes increasingly integrated into mental health services, startups like The Path are trying to position themselves as safer, more specialized alternatives to general-purpose chatbots — especially as concerns grow over how AI handles emotional and psychological conversations.

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