Headspace Health acquires inclusive mental health and wellness app Shine

Headspace Health is acquiring Shine, a mental health and wellness app dedicated to providing an inclusive mental health experience for the BIPOC community, the company announced on Thursday. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Headspace Health says the acquisition of the New York-based company will expand its ability to provide more inclusive self-care content to its growing global member base.

Founded in 2016, Shine has more than 45,000 paid subscribers and has reached over six million people by offering self-guided content. The company also serves more than 90 enterprise clients with its Shine at Work offering. Shine offers daily mediations, self-care courses and personalized support, along with virtual workshops hosted by third-party experts and its community.

“The acquisition of the Shine app underscores the continuing importance of infusing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging into the fabric of everything we do,” said Headspace Health CEO Russell Glass in a statement. “By integrating both the robust content and talented team from Shine, we’ll be able to collectively scale the diversity of offerings and experiences that we can bring to our customers and members.”

Headspace Health says select Shine content will be integrated into its consumer and enterprise offerings, including Headspace in-app experiences, webinars and more. Once Headspace Health integrates Shine into its services, Shine will no longer be in operation as a standalone company, a spokesperson from Headspace Health told TechCrunch in email. The company anticipates that the Shine app will be sunsetted later this year. Existing Shine members will be provided complimentary access to the Headspace app.

Shine’s co-founders and co-CEOs Marah Lidey and Naomi Hirabayashi will take on leadership roles in Headspace Health’s product and marketing teams. Headspace Health says a team of engineers, client success and marketing leaders from Shine will join Headspace Health to enhance the company’s mental health strategy and content.

“After six years of building Shine, we’re thrilled to join Headspace Health to scale the urgent work of closing the equity gap in mental health — something Naomi and I have often felt firsthand,” said Lidey in a statement. “We believe that everyone deserves to feel included in their mental health journey, and with our combined team at Headspace Health, we are on an exciting path to attain that shared vision.”

The acquisition comes as Headspace and Ginger merged last year to form Headspace Health, which is valued at $3 billion. The merger brought Ginger’s therapy and coaching offerings together with Headspace’s mindfulness and meditation services.

Headspace Health’s acquisition of Shine marks its second acquisition this year. In January, the company acquired Sayana, an AI-powered mental health and wellness company, for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2018 and backed by Y Combinator in 2020, Sayana leverages chat-based sessions with an AI persona that encourages users to track their moods. Headspace Health plans to turn off Sayana as a separate experience and move users over into Headspace Health once it finishes integrating the app’s core capabilities into the Headspace and Ginger experience.