Sonar
Sonar is a U.S. youth mental health platform that pairs AI tools with trained human Wellbeing Coaches to deliver 24/7 text-based coaching, crisis escalation, and care coordination for K-12 school districts, health systems, and parents.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersMill Valley, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Sonar does
Sonar (legal entity: Get Sonar, Inc.) is a U.S. healthcare technology company founded in 2022 that operates a text-based mental wellbeing platform for youth. The company partners with K-12 school districts, health systems, behavioral health organizations, and parents/educators to deliver 24/7 coaching and care navigation, with stated reach of 20,000+ young people supported across 9 districts in 5 states. Sonar is headquartered in Sacramento, California (operating address) with the entity incorporated under California law, and runs a lean team of 1-10 employees. The company is privately held and venture-backed, having closed a $2.4 million seed round in February 2025 led by Nina Capital with participation from GSR Ventures, J4 Ventures, and Stanford University.
Sonar's platform centers on a human-in-the-loop model that pairs trained Wellbeing Coaches with an AI companion called "Sonny." The AI applies natural language processing, anomaly detection, recommendation, and process automation to surface context, flag risk signals, personalize engagement, and generate documentation, while every conversation is led by a human coach. The product suite includes Sonar for Students (the core youth-facing coaching experience), Sonar for Schools (district deployment with crisis escalation, care coordination, and measurement-based reporting), Sonar for Parents & Educators (an AI-powered consumer coaching product for adults), the Sonar Coach App (the coach console), and the Sonar Changemaker youth ambassador program. The platform holds SOC 2 Type II certification and is HIPAA, FERPA, COPPA, and SOPPA compliant, and was rated Low/Minimal Risk by Common Sense Media.
Sonar operates a dual go-to-market. Enterprise field sales target K-12 districts and health systems with quote-based annual subscription contracts and lightweight in-person implementation typically live within 1-2 weeks. A separate direct-to-consumer self-serve product at coach.sonarmentalhealth.com serves parents and educators on monthly subscriptions. Pricing is not publicly disclosed on either side. Distribution is supported by content marketing (Substack), organic social (Instagram, LinkedIn), earned media (NYT, CNN, WSJ), and the in-school Changemaker program. The company is advised by Stanford and UPenn researchers and positions itself around proactive early identification of youth mental health challenges, citing that 75% of mental illnesses begin before age 24 and that over 130 million U.S. residents live in Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Sonar firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Sonar
- Legal name
- Get Sonar, Inc.
- Website
- https://www.sonarmentalhealth.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Sonar is a U.S. youth mental health platform that pairs AI tools with trained human Wellbeing Coaches to deliver 24/7 text-based coaching, crisis escalation, and care coordination for K-12 school districts, health systems, and parents.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Sonar industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Youth Digital Mental Health & Wellbeing Coaching
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Autism Spectrum (ASD) Academic & Social-Communication Support Tutoring (EDANAFAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Autism Parent/Caregiver Education & Training (School-Linked) (EDAKAKAJ), Autism Classroom & School Program Support (Inclusion/Resource) (EDAKAKAC)
Keywords
Where Sonar is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Mill Valley
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Sonar business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- School District Subscriptions: Sonar partners with school districts to provide 24/7 wellbeing support for students. Schools pay for access to the platform which provides text-based coaching, crisis support, and care coordination at a fraction of the cost of hiring additional staff.
- Parent/Educator Coaching Product: Separate consumer-facing product for parents and educators providing AI-powered coaching support for navigating youth mental health challenges.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | School/ District B2B pricing |
| Subscription | Monthly | Parent/Educator Consumer Product |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Sonar product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Sonar provides a 24/7 text-based wellbeing coaching and care navigation platform for youth, combining trained human Wellbeing Coaches with AI augmentation. The company sells enterprise subscriptions to K-12 school districts and health systems, and operates a separate direct-to-consumer coaching product for parents and educators, with the platform designed to fill gaps between clinical visits and after-hours.
Product overview
Sonar is a mental health platform for youth offering 24/7 text-based wellbeing support. The core product is Sonar for Students, a coaching platform where trained Wellbeing Coaches lead AI-assisted text conversations through the companion 'Sonny.' The platform extends to Sonar for Schools (district partnership offering), Sonar for Parents & Educators (AI-powered parent coaching assistant), and a Sonar Coach App for the Wellbeing Coach team. The architecture combines human-led conversations with AI that surfaces context, flags risk, and automates documentation. The company also runs a Changemaker Program for youth advocacy and product co-design.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Sonar for Students Core 24/7 text-based wellbeing coaching platform for youth that combines trained human Wellbeing Coaches with AI assistance. Students chat with 'Sonny' (a team of coaches) to receive empathetic, evidence-based support for stress, relationships, mental health, and more, with AI surfacing context, flagging risk, and generating documentation.
- Sonar for Schools Enterprise solution for K-12 school districts that delivers 24/7 mental health support to students, including real-time coaching, crisis escalation, care coordination, and measurement-based reporting. Sold as an annual subscription with quote-based pricing and in-person implementation that goes live within 1-2 weeks.
- Sonar for Parents & Educators Direct-to-consumer AI-powered coaching assistant that provides evidence-based guidance to parents and educators on supporting youth mental health. Delivered as a monthly subscription via coach.sonarmentalhealth.com, distinct from the school district enterprise offering.
- Sonar Coach App Internal-facing application used by Sonar's trained Wellbeing Coaches to lead text-based conversations with students. Coaches are supervised by licensed clinical staff and use the app to handle escalation, care coordination, and documentation.
Quantifiable outcome
- 80% of students see improved wellbeing
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Sonar
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Sonar technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature4 records
Sonar partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core research partner and advisory partner.
- Stanford Universitycore research partnerSonar's founders partnered with Stanford researchers who have shown how technology could be used for early identification of mental health challenges. Stanford provides research support, advisory expertise from faculty including Nina Paul and Johannes Eichstaedt, and investment backing.
- University of Pennsylvaniaadvisory partnerAdvisory team members from UPenn provide research expertise in psychology, education, and technology ethics.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Sonar competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Calm Health: Calm Health extends the consumer Calm meditation app into employer, payer, and provider mental health programs. It competes for adjacent budget rather than direct district contracts, but overlaps with Sonar's parent/educator consumer coaching product and broader wellbeing category.
- Spring Health: Spring Health is a global mental health benefits provider offering therapy, coaching, and crisis support to employers and health plans. It competes for the same health-system and EAP dollars and represents a broader incumbent with significantly more capital and clinical capacity.
- Lyra Health: Lyra Health is a large mental health benefits platform serving employers and health plans, with youth and family services as part of a broader portfolio. It is a broad incumbent competing for health-system and EAP budget that Sonar also targets through its health systems and EAP pathway.
- Headspace Health: Headspace (merged with Ginger) provides consumer and enterprise mental health, including Headspace for Schools serving K-12 districts. It is a broad incumbent in the youth mental health space with a much larger product surface area than Sonar.
Direct peers
- Mantra Health: Mantra Health is a digital mental health provider purpose-built for colleges and, increasingly, K-12 districts, with teletherapy and psychiatry. It is a direct peer in the youth mental health institutional sales motion, with a more clinician-led delivery model than Sonar.
- Daybreak Health: Daybreak Health offers online mental health support specifically for teens and school districts through a virtual therapy model. It competes directly with Sonar for the same K-12 buyer and youth end-user, focusing on licensed therapist matching rather than AI-coaching.
- Cartwheel Care: Cartwheel Care provides school-based virtual therapy and mental health services for K-12 students, contracting with districts and pediatricians. It directly overlaps with Sonar's student-facing, district-purchased offering, though Cartwheel emphasizes therapy over coaching.
- Wysa: Wysa is an AI-driven mental health chatbot marketed to employers, health plans, and youth audiences. It is a direct competitor in the AI-coaching category, explicitly compared by Common Sense Media when rating Sonar's teen safety profile.
- Hazel Health: Hazel Health provides K-12 school-based teletherapy and mental health services, partnering directly with school districts. It is the closest direct competitor to Sonar's school district motion, with a heavier emphasis on licensed clinicians rather than AI-augmented coaches.
Emerging players
- Joon Care: Joon Care is a youth-focused teletherapy platform serving teens and young adults with licensed therapists. It is an emerging player in the same youth mental health category, with a smaller footprint and narrower product than Sonar but a similar end-user focus.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Sonar social profiles
Digital presenceSonar compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Sonar financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Sonar leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles16 records
Sonar funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Sonar M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Sonar
What does Sonar do?
Sonar provides a 24/7 text-based wellbeing coaching and care navigation platform for youth, combining trained human Wellbeing Coaches with AI augmentation. The company sells enterprise subscriptions to K-12 school districts and health systems, and operates a separate direct-to-consumer coaching product for parents and educators, with the platform designed to fill gaps between clinical visits and after-hours.
Is Sonar a public or private company?
Sonar is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Sonar founded?
Sonar was founded in 2022. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Sonar based?
Sonar is headquartered in Mill Valley, United States, in the North America region.
How does Sonar make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. School District Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are parent/Educator Coaching Product.
Who are Sonar's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Calm Health, Spring Health, Lyra Health and Headspace Health. Direct peers are Mantra Health, Daybreak Health, Cartwheel Care, Wysa and Hazel Health. Joon Care is listed as an emerging player.
Does Sonar have an API?
No public API is recorded for Sonar.
What industry is Sonar in?
Sonar's product category is Youth Digital Mental Health & Wellbeing Coaching. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDANAFAD, Autism Spectrum (ASD) Academic & Social-Communication Support Tutoring, with a secondary code of EDAKAKAJ, Autism Parent/Caregiver Education & Training (School-Linked). Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8200.