Siggy, an emerging mental health startup founded by serial health-tech entrepreneurs Jonathan Sabbagh and Edvard Engeséth, has officially emerged from stealth mode with $6 million in pre-seed funding. The New York-based company is building a tech-enabled mental health service that leverages artificial intelligence to collect comprehensive patient histories and seamlessly track ongoing progress between scheduled appointments with licensed clinicians.
The funding round was led by Village Global, marking the first external institutional investment for the young startup, which began development in late 2025. The fresh capital will be deployed strategically to expand the company’s internal engineering and clinical teams, accelerate software development, and navigate complex regulatory requirements. Having recently started accepting its first paying patients ahead of a broader public launch, Siggy is gearing up to rigorously test and refine its service in real-world clinical environments.
The venture brings together two seasoned founders with proven track records of expanding patient care beyond the confines of traditional doctor’s offices. Sabbagh previously co-founded Journey Clinical, an organization that supports medical practices offering ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Meanwhile, Engeséth, a physician by training, co-founded Nurx, an online platform that initially provided birth control and other essential healthcare services directly to consumers.
Bridging the Gap Between Appointments
The inspiration for Siggy stems directly from personal frustrations and professional observations within the current mental health landscape. Sabbagh, who serves as Siggy’s CEO, spent two decades in the finance sector before experiencing profound burnout and a subsequent diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder linked to childhood trauma. Finding recovery through ketamine-assisted therapy deeply transformed his perspective, inspiring him to return to school to study psychology at the age of 38. That journey eventually led him to co-create Journey Clinical.
Even while stepping into his new leadership role at Siggy, Sabbagh remains involved with Journey Clinical as its executive chairman. His background gave him a firsthand look at a pervasive structural flaw in psychiatric and psychological care: therapists and medication-prescribing clinicians often operate in isolation from one another.
In a typical treatment paradigm, a patient might meet with a therapist on a weekly basis, yet have only a brief, sporadic check-in every few months with the physician prescribing their medication. This creates a dangerous information vacuum, leaving virtually no opportunity to discuss subtle shifts in symptoms, the emergence of medication side effects, or changes in daily well-being in real time.
Siggy seeks to eliminate that blind spot by utilizing continuous AI-driven conversations and structured daily check-ins. The platform gathers ongoing telemetry and qualitative feedback that clinicians can review at their convenience between formal visits.
Engeséth, who serves as the startup’s chief operating officer, emphasized the therapeutic value of this continuous loop. By maintaining an ongoing dialogue, the artificial intelligence helps organize what patients share, giving clinicians a much richer, holistic picture of the individual they are treating rather than a snapshot captured once a quarter.
How the Platform Operates
The patient journey on Siggy begins with a conversational intake where individuals answer detailed questions about their personal medical and psychological history through an AI-guided interface. Following this initial intake, patients meet via video with a licensed clinician who reviews the gathered history, establishes a professional diagnosis, and prescribes appropriate medication if indicated.
Once treatment is underway, patients can interact with Siggy’s AI assistant between appointments. They are also prompted to complete a quick daily check-in, logging critical markers such as their sleep quality, mood, medication adherence, and general physical sensations.
To make these metrics even more robust, the platform allows users to optionally connect consumer wearable devices, such as the Apple Watch, Oura Ring, or Whoop strap. Integrating passive biometric data—including activity levels, heart rate, and heart rate variability—alongside daily check-ins allows the system to generate a daily "Siggy Score" out of 100. This score is made visible to both the patient and the clinical team.
The overarching goal of these digital biomarkers is pattern recognition. The system is designed to flag difficult stretches or psychological downturns much earlier than traditional methods might allow. This is particularly crucial in cases where patients might report feeling fine verbally despite data indicating deteriorating sleep patterns or other physical stress indicators.
If the Siggy Score fluctuates significantly, the software flags the anomaly for clinical review. Furthermore, patients receive structured weekly check-ins during their initial eight weeks of care. Prescribing clinicians retain full autonomy over treatment plans, managing all medical questions, deciding whether to adjust medications, and helping patients safely taper off treatments when appropriate.
Company leadership emphasizes that Siggy is neither a crisis intervention service nor a prescriber of controlled substances. Importantly, the platform is designed to be complementary to existing care systems; patients can maintain their relationships with outside therapists while using Siggy. Future feature rollouts will include tools to securely share relevant treatment data with other healthcare providers and involve trusted loved ones in a patient’s support network.
Backed by Repeat Investors
The $6 million pre-seed round reflects strong confidence from a roster of prominent investors, many of whom have previously backed Sabbagh or Engeséth in their past entrepreneurial endeavors. Participants in the financing include Albert Wenger of Union Square Ventures, Immad Akhund (co-founder of Mercury), and Toyin Ajayi (co-founder of Cityblock Health) investing through Coalition Operators. Additional backing came from PsyMed Ventures, Mystic Ventures, and angel investor Gokul Rajaram.
Amrit Rao, a general partner at Village Global, noted that the founders’ deep domain expertise in healthcare was a primary catalyst for the firm’s investment. He highlighted that combining a forward-thinking digital health vision with a commitment to insurance reimbursement transforms the company’s mission from a purely technological endeavor into a broader pursuit of healthcare equity and access.
Immad Akhund, echoing sentiments shared by several repeat backers, pointed to the founders’ long-term vision of utilizing advanced software to deeply understand individual brain health and intercept clinical deterioration before it escalates.
Commercial Insurance and Accessibility
From its inception, establishing a model that integrates with traditional healthcare financing was a top priority for the founders. Engeséth noted that many individuals suffering from mental health challenges are simply unable to pay out-of-pocket for private care.
To address this barrier, Siggy has structured its operations to accept commercial insurance across all 50 U.S. states while actively expanding its presence within government-sponsored insurance programs. Patients also have the option to pay directly, while out-of-pocket expenses for insured individuals vary depending on their specific health plan details. In a notable commitment to public service, the startup’s founders confirmed that Siggy’s platform and core services will remain permanently free for military veterans.
As Siggy prepares for its broader public rollout, the team aims to prove that technology can successfully bridge the gap between fragmented clinical specialties, transforming episodic mental health treatment into a connected, continuous continuum of care.
