Platform Providing Top Online Relationship
Experts Names Dr. Orna Guralnik as
Chief Clinical Officer
OurRitual Secures New Round of VC
Funding Expected to Fuel New Products and Further Adoption
NEW
YORK, July 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OurRitual, a
fast-growing platform focused on helping and healing the
relationships of everyday couples through its network of
professional experts and digital tools, named renowned clinical
psychologist and psychoanalyst, Dr. Orna
Guralnik as the company's Chief Clinical Officer. OurRitual
(formerly known as HeyRitual), also announced today a seed round of
$5.2 million in funding that is
expected to further bolster the platform's growth, which already
saw a 970% increase in users over the past year.
Dr. Guralnik is widely known for starring in the popular
docuseries Couples Therapy, where she deftly guides couples
through real-life therapy sessions. Season four recently debuted
and is currently available to stream on Paramount+ with the
SHOWTIME plan. COUPLES THERAPY won the Television Critics
Association (TCA) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Reality
Programming in 2021 and the American Cinema Editors Award for Best
Edited Non-Scripted Series in 2024. The series has garnered
additional award nominations from the International Documentary
Association, 2023 TCA Awards, Cinema Eye Honor Awards and Critics'
Choice Real TV Awards.
Dr. Guralnik also serves on the faculty at NYU and the National Institute of Psychology, and
is the co-founder of the Center for the Study of Dissociation and
Depersonalization at the Mount Sinai Medical
School. She lectures and publishes on couples therapy
treatments and culture. A graduate of the NYU Post Doctoral Program
in Psychoanalysis, she practices in New
York City.
OurRitual represents an alternative to traditional couples
therapy. Instead of the standard model of a 50 minute session once
per week, OurRitual combines bitesize impactful sessions with
professionals with a host of digital support tools. The OurRitual
model empowers couples to work on their relationship skills in
between sessions which maximizes the overall impact and speed of
change. The relationship experts conduct short and impactful video
sessions, ranging from 20-40 minutes, with the couple or an
individual already in a relationship. The company's data
demonstrates that this model, which encourages users to deal
directly with the obstacles they are facing in a more condensed
session, saves considerable time and expense. Moreover, it has been
proven to yield the same improvements in just one month with
OurRitual as opposed to after 3 months in more conventional
therapy.
The platform currently offers the services of more than 50
highly trained relationship experts on its digital platform,
allowing couples to integrate new ideas and practices in between
sessions, with informative content and personalized recommendations
delivered via video and text.
"I am delighted with the growth we've seen at OurRitual over the
past year and in which we provided over 15,000 sessions for our
members," said David Pruwer, co-founder and CEO of OurRitual.
"Today's inspiring news about Dr. Orna
Guralnik, combined with our new round of investment, is
testament to the growing interest in an alternative to more
traditional therapy for both couples and individuals looking to
build their relationships into their full potential."
OurRitual just completed a $5.2M
Seed round, led by Venrex (one of the leading global consumer
funds). Together with its initial pre-seed funding of $2 million, this takes OurRitual's total funding
to $7.2M. This latest
funding round comes from both original investors along with a
range of diverse new investors including FJ Labs, Active Partners,
GroundUp Ventures, 97212 Ventures, and two respected angel
investors including David Siegel
(former CEO of MeetUp) and Michelle
Kennedy (CEO of Peanut, and board advisor/director of
Bumble). Others who participated include Samsung, Learn VC,
Gaingels, Tiferes Ventures, Ventures Together, Liebenthal Ventures,
Rose Street Capital, JJ Hodari and Tamar
Lifschitz. The funding will be used to expand services and
invest in expanding the range of products OurRitual offers its
users.
"In recent years, we've observed a broad increase in the demand
for therapy, particularly couples therapy. While traditional
solutions exist, we believe that OurRitual offers a significantly
better customer experience. By increasing personalization and
convenience, OurRitual makes effective support much more
accessible." said Tom Fleming,
Managing Partner at Venrex, who have backed a number of major
consumer brands including JustEAT, Revolut, Maven and Charlotte
Tilsbury. "We are excited by the traction that OurRitual is seeing.
Coupled with their scalable model, we believe there is huge
headroom for growth across North
America, Europe and
worldwide."
Based on several thousands of OurRitual's users surveyed, the
company also revealed the top six issues couples are facing today
are:
- Communication issues
- Overcoming infidelity
- Long-distance relationships
- Managing conflicts more effectively
- Relationship Viability
- Improving sexual intimacy
"What's interesting here is that this new data shows that it all
comes back to communication or the lack thereof, and unfortunately,
that often correlates to infidelity," according to Dr.
Guralnik. "The fact that nearly half of OurRitual's members
have never participated in traditional therapy before, is a sign
that they are tapping a large and underserved audience."
The Ritual app has helped more than 2,000 relationships over the
past year, 80% who are US based. Additionally, 75% of OurRitual's
users are in urban populations, which also means they provide
top-tier support in areas that have limited resources. While a
traditional therapy session can cost up to $200 per session, OurRitual weekly sessions and
access to the platform cost from $100-$260 a month.
The company's relationship experts are based around the world and
speak a variety of languages to cater to all users and their
respective cultures and backgrounds.
About OurRitual:
OurRitual is a digital platform that transforms the way people
strengthen and grow their relationships. By offering a cadre
of respected and diverse global relationship experts, combined
with the latest technology providing tailored recommendations and
monitoring progress, our members are able to integrate new ideas
and practices into their lives, creating their own very special
couples ritual. For more information, or to identify an expert
who's right for you, visit our website at www.ourritual.com/.
Media Contacts:
Alyssa
Meyer
631-275-7546
VP of Operations, Thunder11
380450@email4pr.com
Amber Ewart
Head of Growth, OurRitual
380450@email4pr.com
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