Our connection to mental health is personal.

Impassioned from personal family experiences with mental health, Drew and Gabe sought to find ways to create proactive interventions so tragedies can be prevented. We focused on youth because both our founder’s family members developed mental illnesses in their teens. In fact, 75% of all mental illnesses begin prior to age 24.

Just like how you go to the doctor for annual check-ups, early prevention is better than a cure.

As we began to explore ways to tackle the youth mental health crisis, we realized that just like how you would take care of your own physical health, early prevention is better than cure. Early prevention is why we see our dentists at least twice a year, have our blood pressure checked at every visit, or use our smart watches to track many of our vital signs.

We strongly believe in the potential of preventative care for our mental health. We believe that identifying and addressing challenges early can lead to life changing interventions. At Stanford, we partnered with leading researchers who have shown how new technology could be used for early identification of mental health challenges and interventions.

Sonar is born!

We then asked ourselves, “What if we created a product that identifies mental health challenges early to prevent tragedies from occurring while also creating a community of people who care about youth mental health?” That’s when we decided to create Sonar!

Today, our team of clinicians, expert researchers, technologists, and youth leaders are united under the passion for building new technology to empower preventative mental healthcare for youth.