Earkick - AI Therapist

What Earkick - AI Therapist does

Earkick, Inc. is a San Francisco-based AI mental health company founded in 2021 that operates a consumer-facing platform built around an AI therapist chatbot branded as Panda. The core product surface consists of a mobile app distributed via the Apple App Store and a web-based chatbot at chat.earkick.com, both of which deliver conversational mental health support trained on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) frameworks. The system accepts text and voice journaling inputs, correlates conversational signals with health, sleep, and exercise data, tracks mood and anxiety trends over time, recognizes recurring patterns, and includes a crisis-detection layer that prompts professional referrals. Co-founders Herbert Bay and Karin Andrea Stephan lead an 11-50 person organization supported by ~$1.15M in disclosed funding led by LDV Capital with a follow-on from Duke Impact Investing Group.

The company pursues a product-led growth and community-led model with no signup required to access the chatbot and no pricing tier disclosed, positioning the platform as a free, 24/7 alternative to traditional therapy. Distribution leverages the Apple App Store, a frictionless web chatbot, an active blog of 37+ mental health articles, and a multi-platform social presence (Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, LinkedIn). Its first institutional engagement is a June 2023 partnership with Duke University's Duke Impact Investing Group (DIIG) to make the app available to Duke students. Earkick is recognized by third-party market research as a key player in the global chatbot-based mental health apps market (USD 1.78B in 2024, projected USD 7.94B by 2034 at 16.1% CAGR) and in the voice-based AI companion category (USD 13.2B in 2025). The company is not currently generating disclosed revenue, has no public monetization tier, and operates without publicly declared institutional investors beyond its seed and Duke follow-on rounds.

Name

Earkick - AI Therapist

Legal name

Earkick, Inc.

Website

https://earkick.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Earkick is a San Francisco-based AI mental health platform offering free, no-signup access to its Panda AI therapist chatbot. It serves general consumers and university students with CBT/DBT-based conversational AI, mood tracking, voice journaling, and 24/7 personalized mental health support.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Mental Health Software

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Conversational AI Platforms (chat/voice bots, orchestration) (HDAAAFAC)

Keywords

• AI mental health
• Conversational therapy
• Mood tracking
• Digital therapeutics
• Mental wellness app

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Free AI Therapy Platform: Earkick offers its AI mental health chatbot platform completely free with no signup required. The company appears to operate on a free-to-use model without disclosed premium tiers or subscription plans.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Earkick provides an AI-powered mental health platform delivered through a mobile app and a web-based chatbot called Panda. The platform offers 24/7 conversational mental health support, mood and anxiety tracking, voice and text journaling, breathing exercises, and weekly progress reports, using AI trained on CBT and DBT frameworks. It is offered free of charge without requiring signup and is positioned as a complement to traditional therapy.

Product overview

Earkick is an AI-powered mental health platform featuring the Earkick mobile app and Panda Chat, a free AI therapist chatbot accessible without signup. The platform provides mood and anxiety tracking, breathing exercises, and personalized mental health support through conversational AI trained on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) frameworks. The ecosystem includes an educational blog covering mental health topics. Earkick positions itself as a complement to traditional therapy, offering 24/7 accessible, judgment-free mental health support with features like voice journaling, weekly reports, and pattern recognition.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Panda: The AI chatbot/therapist character within the Earkick platform - a free personal AI chatbot with no signup required

Products and services

• Earkick Mobile App

Quantifiable outcome

• AI mental health chatbots can effectively reduce anxiety and depression symptoms according to 2023 meta-analysis by Li et al. and 2024 scoping review by Casu et al.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• DIIG (Duke Impact Investing Group)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2023Duke University students engaged with Earkick after initial contact with DIIG, a student-run impact investing fund at Duke University. The partnership was formalized in June 2023 and aims to leverage technology to improve mental health among students. This partnership represents Earkick's engagement with academic institutions to expand mental health accessibility.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Woebot Health: Woebot Health builds an AI-powered mental health chatbot that delivers CBT-based conversational therapy. It is the closest category-defining peer to Earkick's Panda chatbot, targeting similar self-care-seeking consumers with a clinically framed AI experience.
• Youper: Youper is an AI mental health app combining chatbot conversations with mood tracking, explicitly grouped with Earkick in industry coverage of vanishing AI therapy apps. Same product category, target user, and mental-health-chatbot delivery model.
• Wysa: Wysa is an AI mental health chatbot using CBT, DBT, and motivational interviewing, available via app and B2B channels including employers and health plans. It is directly comparable to Earkick on AI-driven conversational therapy and clinical-framework grounding.

Broad incumbents

• Calm: Calm is a leading consumer mental wellness and meditation platform, comparable to Earkick on the self-care consumer segment and complementary between-session use case. It is a broader incumbent with subscription content rather than an AI chatbot core.
• Headspace: Headspace is a large mental health and meditation platform that has expanded into AI-supported care (Headspace Health / Ginger). It overlaps with Earkick on consumer mental wellness and is cited alongside Earkick in market research on chatbot mental health apps.
• Talkspace: Talkspace provides online therapy and psychiatry via messaging and live sessions, including a B2B channel into health plans and employers. Comparable to Earkick on consumer mental health distribution and the emerging employer/university channel.
• K Health: K Health is an AI-driven virtual care platform spanning primary care, mental health, and urgent care. It is listed alongside Earkick as a key player in chatbot-based mental health apps, with broader clinical scope but overlapping AI mental health positioning.
• BetterHelp: BetterHelp is the largest online therapy marketplace connecting consumers to licensed therapists. It competes with Earkick for the same self-pay mental health consumer but offers human rather than AI therapy, making it a partial substitute rather than a direct chatbot competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/earkickapp
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCjqXTMgHNd0LlncJBGeV8cA
• Facebookfacebook.com/earkick
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/76142134
• Instagraminstagram.com/earkick

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Earkick - AI Therapist