Here are the 15 hottest psychedelics startups that are set to take off in 2021, according to top investors

A cluster of Psilocybin mushrooms growing out of a mossy log against a dark background.
Psilocybin mushrooms on a mossy log jackfoto/iStock/Getty Images Plus

About a year ago, virtually every psychedelics company was focused on developing medical treatments that could be approved by regulators.

In 2021, that's no longer the case.

In just a short period of time, a whole network of psychedelics startups focused on tech, delivery, and distribution have risen up to lay the groundwork for what might become a $100 billion market.

There are still biotech companies working through clinical trials and talking with regulators to get medications on the market, and those startups are as popular as well. But investors say there's also a whole other class of startups that are garnering their attention.

Insider identified the top 11 venture-capital investors in the psychedelics space, based on how much money they had deployed into startups in the industry. Then we asked them: Who are your favorite companies?

We asked each VC to name one startup they had invested in and one they hadn't, and to explain why they picked those companies. We asked for private companies that hadn't yet announced plans to list on a public exchange.

Three startups received more than one vote. Three VCs named Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals, while Beckley Psytech and Delix Therapeutics received two votes each. Twelve other companies got one vote.

Insider also has a separate list of startups in the psychedelics space, based on how much funding they raised from investors. The 14 private companies on that list raised over $222 million in 2020, and four of the companies on that list were also named by VCs for this article. 

Here's the list, in alphabetical order: 

April 19

The logo for psychedelics company April 19
April 19 has raised half a million dollars from investors since it was founded in December 2020. April 19,

Founded: December 2020

Located: US incorporated with operations in London and Berlin

Total raised: $500,000

What the company does: April 19 uses machine learning to more efficiently discover novel psychedelic compounds. The company said that as a result of drug-development partnerships, it was profitable within three months of founding. The company is named after "Bicycle Day," or the day that Albert Hofmann first recorded his use of LSD.

Why investors like the company

Michael Hoyos, a cofounding partner at The Conscious Fund, said drug-candidate screening is typically an extremely time and resource-intensive process. 

"By taking an AI-led approach, A19 is able to efficiently expedite the drug-candidate-screening process," Hoyos said. "Case in point, within six months of inception, April 19 has developed one of the world's most advanced AI drug-discovery pipelines.

Beckley Psytech

Cosmo Feilding Mellen, a cofounder and the CEO of Beckley Psytech, and Amanda Feilding, a cofounder of Beckley Psytech.
Cosmo Feilding Mellen and Amanda Feilding, the directors of Beckley Psytech. Beckley Psytech

Founded: 2019

Located: Oxford, England 

Total raised: $23.2 million

What the company does: Beckley Psytech is a for-profit psychedelics company that was formed in 2019 when the Beckley Foundation, a nonprofit focused on drug-policy reform and scientific research into psychoactive substances, began to look for business opportunities that would be able to increase the scale and ambition of its work.

The company is focused on developing treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders.

CEO Cosmo Feilding Mellen said the company will be a "platform where multiple drug-development programs are running in parallel with different compounds, targeting different disease areas." He said the first area of focus will be research on the synthetic compound 5-MeO-DMT, a psychedelic agent found in the Sonoran Desert toad.

Take a look at Beckley Psytech's pitch deck here. The company was also included on Insider's list of psychedelics startups that raised the most funding in 2020.

Why investors like the company

Ken Belotsky, a partner at Negev Capital, said Beckley Psytech has an impressive management team and an interesting strategy to pursue regulatory approval for its psilocybin-based treatment targeting short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks, or SUNHA. 

SUNHA is a rare disease, and companies developing treatments for such illnesses could be granted a faster pathway to approval. 

Cody Shandraw, the director of Ambria Capital, said that though he has not yet invested in Beckley, he is watching the company closely. Shandraw added that he was impressed with the company's management team and vision to develop a pipeline of psychedelic compounds into licensed pharmaceutical medicines. 

Delix Therapeutics

Mark Rus, CEO of Delix Therapeutics posing for a photo in front of a brick wall
Mark Rus, the CEO of Delix Therapeutics, has raised $15 million to treat brain disorders. Delix Therapeutics

Founded: 2019

Located: Boston

Total raised: Over $15 million

What the company does: Delix Therapeutics is developing treatments that target brain disorders. The company said it's identified a group of non-hallucinogenic versions of psychedelic compounds, which are being advanced through preclinical and clinical development.

Why investors like the company:

What If Ventures founder Stephen Hays said Delix Therapeutics has a novel approach to the psychedelics space. 

Tim Schlidt, a cofounder and partner at Palo Santo, said Delix's emphasis on a non-hallucinogenic, take-home medication "holds promise as one of the more commercially viable psychedelic medications of the future."

Eleusis

Shlomi Raz Eleusis
Shlomi Raz founded Eleusis in 2013. Eleusis

Founded: 2013

Located: London and New York

Total raised: The company declined to disclose. In May 2020, Eleusis told Insider it had raised $13.5 million.

What the company does: As one of the earliest companies in the space, Eleusis has been focused on developing psychedelics as treatments. One of its compounds, ELE-Psilo, is being developed to treat major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression. 

The company is also focused on using psychedelics as treatments for chronic inflammation, something the company said has massive implications for a host of diseases, including Alzheimer's disease.

Why investors like the company:

Tim Schlidt, a cofounder and partner at Palo Santo, said Eleusis' team — which includes CEO Shlomi Raz, Chief Medical Officer David Weiner, and scientists such as Charles Nichols, Tim Foster, and David Nichols — is "a powerhouse of life-sciences management and drug-discovery capabilities."

He added that he believed Eleusis will be able to provide one of the most commercially viable and accessible methods of psychedelics treatment. 

"We believe Eleusis will soon emerge as one of the largest players in the psychedelic industry, operating alongside heavyweights like Atai, Compass, MindMed, and GH Research," Schlidt said.

Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals

Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals psychedelics company logo
Three VC firms chose Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals as one of their top picks. Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals

Founded: 2019

Located: New York City

Total raised: About $35 million

What the company does: Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals is a preclinical biotechnology company that is working to develop psychedelics-based treatments for conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, opioid-use disorder, and ADHD. The company said it's focused on new compounds that build on the therapeutic potential of classic psychedelics. 

Gilgamesh was also included on Insider's list of psychedelics startups that raised the most funding in 2020.

Why investors like the company:

Simeon Schnapper, a managing partner of JLS Fund, said Gilgamesh has the ability to efficiently develop new chemical entities to target various illnesses. 

What If Ventures founder Stephen Hays and Ambria Capital director Cody Shandraw said the company's leadership team had already made successful exits in the psychedelics space, which showed investors that they know what they're doing.

"It's the perfect combination of drug-development know-how and company-building ability," Hays said.

Shandraw added that the company's collaboration with Columbia University, as well as its status as a Y Combinator company, also adds to its value. 

Gilgamesh is "certainly going to be one company to watch for public listing or possible acquisition during the coming year," Shandraw said.

Journey Clinical

A compilation of headshots from Journey Clinical cofounders Jonathan Sabbagh (CEO) and Myriam Barthes (COO)
CEO Jonathan Sabbagh and COO Myriam Barthes, the cofounders of Journey Clinical. Journey Clinical

Founded: 2020

Located: New York City

Total raised: The company declined to disclose

What the company does: Journey Clinical works to address the distribution of legal psychedelics therapies in the US.

The company's decentralized clinic model allows clinicians and psychotherapists to access licensed ketamine prescribers and a care model for ketamine-assisted therapy. 

Why investors like the company:

Clara Burtenshaw, a cofounder and partner at Neo Kuma, said she invested in Journey Clinical because she believes access to quality care is critical. 

"Journey is the world's first decentralized clinic, onboarding qualified psychotherapists and empowering them to provide ketamine-assisted therapies through an in-house, nationwide ketamine prescription service," Burtenshaw said. "This gives patients increased access to vetted and independent psychotherapists that can offer this type of treatment."

Journey Colab

Journey Colab team
The Journey Colab team raised $3 million from Apollo Projects in October 2020. Journey Colab

Founded: 2020

Located: San Francisco

Total raised: $3 million

What the company does: Journey Colab is working to develop psychedelic medications to treat addiction.

Ten percent of the company's founding equity was dedicated to a trust designed to "share the value generated by the company's success" with Indigenous communities that have traditionally used psychedelics and organizations working on the ecological conservation of naturally occurring psychedelics, among other groups.

The company was included on Insider's list of psychedelics startups that raised the most funding in 2020.

Why investors like the company:

Matias Serebrinsky, a partner at PsyMed Ventures, said Journey Colab is one of his top picks because of its innovative stakeholder model, as well as its efforts to develop synthetic mescaline.

Lumenate

The cofounders of Lumenate standing side by side
Tom Galea (left) and Jay Conlon (right), the cofounders of Lumenate. Lumenate

Founded: 2019

Located: Bristol, UK 

Total raised: 1 million pounds ($1.4 million)

What the company does: Lumenate is a software company that has developed an app that flashes sequences of lights from a user's smartphone. These lights work to "neurologically guide users into a deeply meditative, semi-psychedelic state," the company said.

Why investors like the company:

Michael Hoyos, a cofounding partner at The Conscious Fund, said that though he's yet to invest, he's watching Lumenate closely. 

Hoyos said the company's approach to "exploring non-drug-based methods of inducing altered states of consciousness" is interesting, and that the strategy has captured the attention of consumers and the media. 

"Their technology is accessible, easy to use, and should an experience become overwhelming for users, it can be easily switched off," Hoyos said. He added that The Conscious Fund saw the company as "the next generation of app wellness — beyond what Calm and Headspace have brought to the market."

Maya Health

A headshot of David Champion, CEO of Maya Health
David Champion, the CEO of Maya Health, has raised $4.3 million. Maya Health

Founded: 2019

Located: Denver

Total raised: $4.3 million

What the company does: Maya Health is a psychedelics-therapy software company designed for psychedelics practitioners, retreats, and participants. Among other things, the platform automates admin tasks, offers standardized assessments, and helps practitioners measure patients' progress.

Why investors like the company

Simeon Schnapper, a managing partner of JLS Fund, said he's been following Maya Health in the sector. 

"Maya is led by digital natives with experience in designing consumer software and integrating behavioral data and feedback," Schnapper said. He added that the company developed its product in consultation with the therapist community.

Mushroom Design

A look at Mushroom Design's product. A case of blue pills sits next to a box with the company's logo.
Mushroom Design is a functional supplement company that was founded in 2020. Mushroom Design

Founded: 2020

Located: North Miami Beach, Florida

Total raised: $750,000

What the company does: Mushroom Design is a functional-supplement company that offers "safe, reliable dosing of non-synthetic natural psychedelics." 

Why investors like the company:

Dustin Robinson, a managing principal at Iter Investments, said he believed that Mushroom Design was well positioned to be a leader within the high-growth functional-mushroom space.

"Their beaded technology and focus on quality ingredients differentiate their products from many of the other functional-mushroom brands," he said.

Osmind

A compilation of headshots from Osmind's cofounders Jimmy Qian and Lucia Huang
COO Jimmy Qian and CEO Lucia Huang, the cofounders of Osmind, have raised $17.2 million since 2020. Osmind

Founded: 2020

Located: San Francisco

Total raised: $17.2 million 

What the company does: Osmind is a psychedelics software company focused on building an "operating system for neuropsychiatry." 

The company's electronic health record allows mental-health providers administering psychedelics therapy to track outcomes, streamline workflows, and prescribe drugs, among other things. 

Why investors like the company

Ryan Zurrer, the founder and managing director of Vine Ventures, said Osmind had positioned itself as an integral player within the space by "creating an electronic-health-record system designed around where the future of mental healthcare is heading."

People Science

Headshots of People Science cofounders and co-CEOs Noah Craft MD, PhD (left) and Belinda Tan MD, PhD (right)
Noah Craft and Belinda Tan, People Science's cofounders and co-CEOs. People Science

Founded: 2019

Located: Venice Beach, California

Total raised: Around $3.2 million 

What the company does: People Science is a tech platform that connects people with scientists studying alternative and natural medicines.

The company said it offers end-to-end clinical-research services focused on natural and synthetic psychedelics treatments, among other areas of study, as well as a system that allows companies to put their products through a platform that will help design, implement, and analyze clinical-research projects.

Why investors like the company:

Matias Serebrinsky, a partner at PsyMed Ventures, said he picked People Science because it allows more effective and affordable clinical research of alternative and natural medicines such as psychedelics.

Psilera Bioscience

Psilera Bioscience cofounders Dr. Jackie von Salm and Dr. Chris Witowski sitting for a photo
Jackie von Salm and Chris Witowski cofounded Psilera Bioscience in 2019. Psilera Bioscience

Founded: July 2019

Located: Tampa, Florida

Total raised: $2.7 million

What the company does: Psilera Bioscience is developing formulations based on the psychedelic compound DMT. The company said it's working to tailor DMT's therapeutic effects, and that it uses a proprietary data set to identify "next-generation compounds" that have modified psychedelic and therapeutic effects. 

Psilera said it's focused on treatments for mood, cognitive, and substance-use disorders. 

Why investors like the company

Dustin Robinson, a managing principal at Iter Investments, said Psilera's founders are "extremely impressive Ph.D. chemists with a strong track record for launching successful and innovative products."

Robinson added that the company has a strong intellectual-property position for certain technologies within the psychedelics space that could be transformational for mental health.

Psygen

A compilation of headshots from Psygen's C-suite
Psygen's C-suite. Top row (from left): Paul Mesburis, Danny Motyka, Peter van der Heyden. Second row (from left): Mark Haden, Dave Wood, Nadia Van der Heyden. Psygen

Founded: 2019

Located: Calgary, Alberta

Total raised: Over $8.4 million 

What the company does: Psygen manufactures synthetic psychedelic substances — with a focus on "classical psychedelics" such as psilocybin, DMT, LSD, and MDMA — for clinical research and therapeutic applications.

The company said it's also working on a drug-development program to bring an LSD-based drug to market.

The company was included on Insider's list of psychedelics startups that raised the most funding in 2020.

Why investors like the company:

Ryan Zurrer, the founder and managing director of Vine Ventures, said what sets Psygen apart is its team, which has experience in legally manufacturing psychedelics in Canada. 

"Psygen has an intellectual-property portfolio that includes trade secrets, advanced know-how, and a selection of patentable processes for GMP-level psychedelic production," Zurrer added. "Psygen fits into the industry value chain irrespective of how the future of the space unfolds, as they will be producing pharmaceutical-grade psychedelics for legal use regardless of the outcomes of patent ownership."

Wavepaths

A screenshot of Wavepaths' website
Wavepaths is a music-technology software company catered to psychedelics-therapy treatments. Wavepaths

Founded: 2019

Located: Incorporated in the UK, with a global team

Total raised: Over $5 million

What the company does: Wavepaths is a music-technology company focused on patients undergoing psychedelics therapy, as well as other forms of education and healthcare.

The company said its software — available through a monthly subscription— creates personalized music "dynamically adapted to the changing experience and therapeutic needs of the care-seekers."

Why investors like the company:

Clara Burtenshaw, a cofounder and partner at Neo Kuma, said setting is a key component of effective psychedelics treatment.

"Wavepaths provide music composed for experiential therapy that is adapted in real time according to a patient's response in order to create a supportive environment for psychedelic therapy," she said. 

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