OpenUp secures €20M to expand its employee mental health platform.

      The Amsterdam-based startup provides employees with direct, anonymous access to psychologists, lifestyle coaches, and financial advisors through their employers, currently catering to over 2,000 organizations in five European markets. Smartfin led the latest funding round, with Rubio Impact Ventures—who previously led the Series A round in 2022—participating again.

      In Europe, seeking professional psychological help traditionally requires a referral from a GP, followed by a waiting list, and an appointment scheduled weeks or even months in advance. This process often does not align with the timing needed by the approximately 30 percent of European workers who report experiencing burnout symptoms. Founded in 2020, OpenUp offers an alternative approach: services that are employer-funded, instantly accessible, and anonymous. The company has successfully raised €20 million to further develop this model throughout Europe.

      The funding round was spearheaded by Smartfin, the Belgian growth equity firm established by Jürgen Ingels, with Rubio Impact Ventures joining as a co-investor. Rubio, a Dutch impact venture capital firm, had previously led OpenUp's €15 million Series A funding round in October 2022, in collaboration with Achmea Innovation Fund and several angel investors, including Adriaan Nühn and David Vismans. This new investment will facilitate European expansion and the acquisition of additional expertise, bringing the company's total disclosed funding to around €35 million.

      OpenUp was co-founded by Gijs Coppens, a licensed healthcare psychologist who previously established iPractice, a blended psychological care provider, and Floris Rost van Tonningen. The platform operates on a B2B subscription model, where employers pay for access, allowing their employees to use the services freely, anonymously, and without needing referrals.

      Anonymity is a core feature; employers receive only aggregated usage data and do not know which employees are using the service or the specifics of the sessions. The platform provides three types of support: individual sessions with psychologists, physical health experts, or financial advisors; group interactive sessions; and self-directed online courses, all available in over 35 languages.

      Currently, OpenUp operates in five European countries: the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium, and supports over 2,000 organizations including Rabobank, Decathlon, and Deloitte. The model is intentionally designed to be preventative rather than clinical, bridging the gap between “nothing is wrong yet” and “I need a referral to a specialist,” which traditional Employee Assistance Programs have often failed to address effectively.

      Coppens has previously mentioned that around two to three percent of OpenUp users eventually pursue formal clinical care, viewing this not as a shortcoming of the platform but as a sign of effective early intervention. He highlighted that this funding represents a fundamental shift in employer accountability: “Employers are increasingly responsible in this area, and if policymakers have their way, even have a duty of care. Meanwhile, technology, particularly AI, is transforming our work environment. This is why organizations must consider how they support their employees during this transition, which is precisely what we strive to achieve at OpenUp.”

      The market situation is quite striking. More than 1.6 million Dutch employees, roughly 20 percent of the workforce, report symptoms of burnout, while the European figure nears 30 percent, affecting approximately 60 million workers overall.