Sober Sidekick for Investors

Why Sober Sidekick

Four reasons this compounds.

Plans spend $3.64 on substance use crisis care for every $1 on recovery. Relapse happens in isolation, between appointments.

See the impact › 02 · The network1.6M+

Downloads, with every post answered by a person. Members acquire members, and every helper shortens the next wait.

See the community › 03 · The data93%

Reported accuracy predicting relapse 14 days out, from one of the largest relapse datasets in recovery.

See the model › 04 · The revenue$2.02M

2027 revenue already booked from live health plan programs, with $3.60M expected as seven more sign.

See the business ›

Impact

Each act of peer support lowers relapse risk, starting with the first one.

Members who connect with peers relapse less, stay sober longer and stay engaged longer. For the health plans that pay for their care, that shows up as lower spending.

Relapse risk by number of peer interactions

20%15%10%5%0

19.9%None

10.3%1

7.7%3

8.0%5

7.0%7

6.95%9

−48%relapse risk after one peer interaction, about 65% lower at five or more

Observational platform cohort, self-reported relapse dates. Outcomes validated by the Validation Institute (2023, 50,000+ member cohort).

Sobriety over time

61%sober at 6 months

55%sober at 12 months

Nonrandomized, self-reported. Duke-Margolis case example, 2026

Still here a year later

5+ peer comments

7.5%

All members

3.1%

2.4× the 12-month retention for members who engage with peers.

Platform data, n=14,856 vs 96,382

Where plans spend today$3.64 : $1

ACA plans spend $3.64 on substance use crisis care for every $1 on recovery support.

Wakely & HMA brief, Aug 2026, ~150,000 lives

Modeled savings~$4.4M

annualized savings per 1,000 Medicaid members engaged in recovery support.

CHARM Economics

Missouri, last year~1,500

reports of members staying sober instead of returning to use, from 23,000+ acts of support.

University of Missouri Extension

The mobile experience

One member's first night, from opening the app to being answered.

Free, anonymous, 30 seconds to join and no real name required. Every step is built around other people, because connection is what keeps someone sober.

1 · Arrive
Someone is already here.

The first screen counts their sober time to the minute and invites them to introduce themselves. The community is waiting.
1,000 new people a day joined in 2024
2 · Check in
Say how today actually feels.

A one-tap mood check-in, then a gentle starter to share it. It's also a daily signal for the relapse model.
1 tap to check in, with a starter to share
3 · Give to receive
Pay it forward before you post.

A first post goes live once the new member supports someone else. Their first act in the community is helping, not asking.
20% of new downloads give support within 8 minutes
4 · Share
Post the moment.

Day counts become milestone cards, so even day one is something to share.
Day 1 is a milestone too
5 · Get answered
Six or seven people show up, usually within minutes.

Real people send support and reply. "Been exactly here." "You reached out. That's the whole fight." No bots, no scripts.
< 4 min to the first reply · 6.8 people per post
6 · Pass it on
The member who was answered becomes the one answering.

Three years in, a member tells tonight's newcomers to stay. The person who posted at 2 a.m. on day 23 shows up to cheer them on. Next, Comeback Story videos will turn a member's own history into a short story they can choose to share.
5× retention for members who give support

Screens are current builds from the dev pipeline with synthetic accounts, cropped to the part that matters. Stats: platform data; Amplitude case study.

Support beyond peers

The right help at the right moment, around the clock.

Peers answer first. When a member needs more, the app has the next step ready, at 3 a.m. as much as 3 p.m.

Resources tab with 24/7 AA Meeting and 24/7 NA Meeting join buttons, Recovery Meetings nearby, Talk to Someone Now and Member Support Resources

24/7

AA and NA meetings, any hour

One tap joins a 24/7 AA or NA meeting, with a finder for meetings nearby and a "Talk to Someone Now" line right beside them.

Risk risesThe model flags a member, or they ask for more help

Care reaches outOur in-house team contacts them in the app

Telehealth visitAn in-network counselor or clinician, billed to their health plan

Recovery Care

Telehealth when it matters

Clinical support arrives when the data says someone is struggling, not weeks later at a scheduled appointment.

Library

Resources for every stage

13 collections and hundreds of articles, from detox and 12-step programs to crisis support and relapse prevention, that members can share into the feed.

The community

The community is the product, and it's the part no one can copy.

More than a million people have joined a network where strangers show up for each other every hour of the day. Every new member makes it more valuable to the next one, and that network effect is what turns a free app into outcomes plans will pay for.

1.6M+downloads, from 150+ countries

2M+peer engagements

6.8people answer an average post

23,000+acts of support in Missouri in one year

Engagement rises with every connection

Average active days per member, by how connected they are

No peer connection

12.3

1 peer

23.7

5 peers

32.8

Community leaders

42.3

+244%more active days for the members who lead the community, and 28.7× the total hours

"The Recovery Network Effect": 394,100 de-identified members, Feb 2024 to Feb 2026. Cohorts n=152,769 / 32,221 / 14,571 / 483.

At the network's pace

0:00after posting

A post goes up. Watch replies arrive.

0people have likely joined Sober Sidekick since you opened this page. Next one in about 1:26

Paced from published averages (first reply under 4 minutes, 6.8 responders, about 1,000 new people a day in 2024), with 4 minutes shown in 12 seconds. A simulation, not a live feed.

For members

Belonging, on demand

Anonymous handles, no real names, and someone awake at any hour who has been where they are.

For health plans

Engagement they can't buy

The free app brings members in on its own, about 1,000 new people a day in 2024, so plans reach members who never enter treatment.

For the business

A compounding moat

Every conversation adds to the relapse dataset behind the risk model, and every new helper shortens the wait for the next person.

What members say

4.8out of 5

★★★★★

from 32,600+ ratings on both app stores

App Store4.88.1K ratings

Google Play4.824.5K ratings · 1M+ installs

Store listings, read October 21, 2026.

"I was AMAZED by the amount of support I received on just one initial post."

★★★★★Lauren E. · Google Play

"This App changed my life - without a doubt."

★★★★★"Total Life Changer" · App Store, May 2023

"It does exactly what it's intended to do, make you feel loved in a very dark time."

★★★★★App Store review

"I was immediately connected into recovery by sharing and supporting."

★★★★★"Loving sober sidekick!" · App Store, May 2022

"The team that handles this app demonstrated to me that they TRULY CARE about me and my sobriety."

★★★★★"Best app to help get Sober" · App Store, Aug 2024

"Stay connected and really utilize this app because you're worth it."

★★★★★"Stay connected" · App Store, Nov 2025

Downloads and peer engagements: platform data, October 2026. Missouri: University of Missouri Extension. New members per day: platform data, 2024.

Empathy Algorithm · predictive relapse prevention

The network that answers posts also spots who is about to relapse.

Members tell us when they reset their sobriety date. Across more than a million recovery journeys, that makes one of the largest relapse datasets in recovery. A model reads it daily and flags rising risk while there's time to reach out.

1 · Signals, read daily

What members already do

Timer resetsMood check-insPost languageEngagementGiving support

2 · A risk score for everyone

Members sorted by acuity

80% lower17% moderate3% high

3 · Someone reaches out

Alerts start outreach

Crisis language in a postNewly high risk of relapseRelapse event: a sobriety reset

Shared with a health plan only if the member opts in.

93%

Reported accuracy forecasting relapse 14 days ahead

Two weeks gives a peer, a counselor or an in-network clinician time to reach the member before relapse rather than after.

*Company-reported and not independently verified, as noted in Fortune, Jun 2024.

Revenue

Health plans pay for outcomes. Members never pay.

The app stays free. Plans and employers pay through three lines that run on the same platform and clinical team.

Revenue by year, $M · financial model

2026 forecastFloor casePlan case

Sober Sidekick financial model, October 2026. Projections, not guarantees. Plan case is net operating income positive from January 2027.

Three lines, one platform

Sober Sidekick platform and PlusPlan and employer licenses for the app and peer network.

Recovery CareIn-network clinical care for our members, billed to the payor, with clinicians and a call center in house.

Gaps in care (Nexus)Outreach that closes care gaps for plans, 14,000+ in Ohio alone.

Customers

CareSource GA · OH · INMPC MDAmbetter AR

Contracting or verbal

Accenture via Optum EWSUnitedHealthcare MOBlue Cross AR

Booked$2.02M

2027 revenue already booked from live CareSource and MPC programs.

Contracting or verbal$3.60M

expected booked 2027 revenue once seven programs sign, up 78%.

In proposal$9.05M

more contract value with Louisiana, HCSC, AmeriHealth, Aetna and MPC.

2027 modeled revenue as of September 2026.

Company story

Built by a founder who knows what one reply at the right moment can do.

On Thanksgiving Day 2018, Chris Thompson woke up in a parking lot after years of addiction and more than ten ER visits. Two hospitals turned him away. About a month into sobriety he realized what helped most was opening up to one other person who understood.

In January 2019, while living in sober living, he built Sober Sidekick around one question: what if an algorithm could get people to help people, at scale?

The early business sold referrals to rehab facilities and brought in nearly $850,000 a year. Chris cut it, went 18 months without a salary, and rebuilt the company on value-based contracts with health plans.

"I don't want to have a customer that wins when my members relapse."
Chris Thompson, Founder & CEO, Fortune

Key milestones

Nov 2018Chris begins his recovery
Jan 2019Sober Sidekick launchesFirst users in Texas and Massachusetts
2022~150,000 members in 150+ countriesMoves to Bentonville, Arkansas; first Fortune profile
Jul 2023Harvard Business School case publishedTaught in Launching Tech Ventures
2023Outcomes validatedValidation Institute, 50,000+ member cohort
2024Value-based health plan contractsLead-generation revenue fully replaced by plan partnerships
2025Health plan partnerships scaleCareSource, Ambetter Arkansas; Kraft Prize finalist
Dec 2025Passed 1 million downloads2M+ peer engagements on the platform
2026Recovery Care launches · 1.6M downloadsA broader business after the largest platform contract ended in February
2027 planFour to nine clinical statesMI, NV, MO, AR, then MS; Accenture returns via Optum EWS

Press and recognition

Taught at Harvard. Covered by Fortune and the health-tech press.

Harvard Business School · case study

Sober Sidekick is taught at Harvard Business School.

The case asks whether a consumer recovery app should give up lead-generation revenue to charge health plans, which is the decision this company made.

Read the coverage ›

Authors: Senior Lecturer Jeff Bussgang and case researcher Kumba Sennaar
Course: Launching Tech Ventures, HBS MBA program
Published: July 2023, from ten interviews; Chris guest-spoke at three sessions

FortuneJun 2024

Venture capitalists wanted Sober Sidekick's founder to take his app in a different direction. Now he's proving them wrong

Read ›

Talk Business & PoliticsOct 2023

Leadership and backers

CT

Chris ThompsonFounder & CEOLinkedIn ›

JC

Jordan CarlisleChief Product & Technology OfficerLinkedIn ›

RS

Ria ShieldsChief Operating OfficerLinkedIn ›

JG

Jeff GoeChief Growth Officer

ZZ

Zach ZobelPresident, Healthcare SolutionsLinkedIn ›

Investors include

HealthX VenturesAmerican Heart Association VenturesNina CapitalIkigaiCortado VenturesSuncoastWilson Sonsini Investment Co.46 VenturesThe Venture Center

Relapse happens in isolation. No one recovers alone here.

Four reasons this compounds.

Each act of peer support lowers relapse risk, starting with the first one.

One member's first night, from opening the app to being answered.

Someone is already here.

Say how today actually feels.

Pay it forward before you post.

Post the moment.

Six or seven people show up, usually within minutes.

The member who was answered becomes the one answering.