This blog post dives into why and how Althea can over its basic software for free to licensees, how we make money (not by selling data!), and how we have aligned our incentives with that of the broader movement so we can best support it.
At Althea, our vision is a world without a stigma against natural medicines. Instead, we want to see a world where everyone has access to them if they want. We believe these medicines, like psilocybin, are a very powerful tool with a multitude of benefits. Humans have been using them for thousands of years, and they have brought us back to ourselves, to each other, and to our planet. In our current era, we could use all the help we can get for that. We’re in the midst of a mental health pandemic, and we believe that these medicines can help people reconnect and reground themselves in a positive way.
We incorporated Althea as a public benefit corporation (PBC) to put our money with our mouth is. We wanted to make sure that our organization is mission-aligned to support our vision, and that our bylaws had that explicitly stated.
Our goal is to further humanity’s understanding of the impact of psychedelic programs on health and consciousness. Our backgrounds are in technology, data, and bringing new ideas to life. We are passionate about the power of psychedelics, and we wanted to bring our skillsets to support this industry, and we have. We’ve created technology to help support the amazing healers by cutting down on the administrative and compliance tasks they have to keep track of. We have given tools to help up the level of professionalism, increasing safety and the level of trust between clients and practitioners. We are in this field because we have been touched by these medicines, and we want to support this movement the way we can best. We continue to be moved regularly by the impact this type of work and therapy has had on people as well as by the passion and dedication the practitioners and supporters of this space are.
”Unlike other vendors in this space, we don’t just want to be an expense item on a fledgling business’s budget – we want to see this industry grow.
Althea is free. But why?
Great question – it’s the first question I ask of any service that purports to be free. At Althea, we are acutely aware that this industry is at the beginning. The businesses opening to supply these services are just getting off the ground. Unlike others in this space, we don’t just want to be an expense item on a fledgling business’s budget – we want to see this industry grow. We believe that for it to grow, businesses need technology that can support their operations and compliance. So, our basic version of our software is free for all licensees in state programs, and we plan to keep that basic level free in perpetuity to make getting your business started easier.
Althea’s Business Model
Althea makes money in a variety of ways that are more aligned with helping grow the industry. When our users see more business, then so do we. We think that is fair and aligns us best with our customers. This is something unique to Althea in this space. Here are a few of the ways Althea makes money:
- Psychedelic Care Navigation – In addition to providing software to licensed practitioners, we are interested in helping break down barriers that trip up psychedelic seekers from reaching services (and there are a lot of them). It’s costly, takes time, it’s hard to find services, it’s not easy to compare services, and there are all sorts of questions that people have before they want to make this sizable expenditure. Our team works with psychedelic seekers to help with all of this. We want to support people entering this space, make them feel comfortable, answer questions, and help them figure out how they want to proceed. If you head to our website you’ll get a sense for how this works.
- Directory Listings – Althea recently published our new directory of licensed centers and facilitators in the state programs. We did this as another way to help on the marketing side for state-program licensees. We had heard from many that they didn’t expect to have to do as much marketing as they have, and we thought we could help. While our directory includes all verified licensees, we charge facilitators for premium profile listings. This enables facilitators to put in links to their website, photos, scheduling links, and other details that make them more searchable in the directory.
- Premium Features – Can you believe Althea only started building software in September 2024? We have made it a long way since then, and we aren’t slowing down now. As our software progresses, we will have some features that are beyond general client management and state compliance that may cost money. This will move us into the “freemium” model. As mentioned, to many clients and stay compliant with state programs, we will continue to make sure that is free so that new businesses have one less worry on their plate. At the moment, though, when you sign up for Althea, everything comes included and at no subscription cost.
- Payments – The next feature coming in Althea will be access to payments. This will be a paid feature, should you choose to use it. We are excited to have a plan to help our users with payments, as that has continued to be a challenge for everyone in the industry. We believe our solution will be a more streamlined and cost-effective plan.
Does Althea sell data?
No. And we won’t in the future either. We believe that each participant of these programs holds the rights to their data and that they should know where it is and be able to grant and remove access from other parties as they see fit. As we continue to build the software, we will continue to build so participants can easily control who has access.
What about privacy and security (and HIPAA)?
Althea was built with the highest levels of security and privacy in mind. The majority of our team previously worked at Epic, the largest electronic health records (EHR) company on the planet. We are intimately familiar with data privacy and security, PHI, and HIPAA. We treat the data that flows in our system as healthcare data and are preparing for the day when these programs and the rest of the medical world need to communicate privately and securely.
Building a Track Record
We have been helping state licensees streamline their operations and stay compliant since the start of 2025. About 50% of Oregon service centers use Althea for client management, screening, outcomes, and compliance. Similarly, as Colorado has kicked off, around 50% of healing centers are working closely with Althea. We are proud to partner with so many, and we are committed to helping hold space for them, so they can hold space for their clients.
”We are the user-experience-obsessed technology nerds - we look to the real experts for everything else.
Partnerships
In addition to the amazing clients we work with, we have built some great partnerships along the way that help us stay centered in the work we’re doing and give us access to the experts we need. We are the user-experience-obsessed technology nerds – we look to the real experts for everything else. Here’s a list of a few of our close partners:
- The University of Colorado School of Medicine Dept. of Psychiatry – This group has done some amazing psychedelic research and have helped us with medical screeners, data collection, and moving the industry forward in Colorado. They have been our medical and research experts.
- Chariot – An Oregon service center (and soon to be Colorado healing center), Chariot was our first development partner that helped us understand the ins and outs of operations at a center.
- The Center Origin – The first licensed Colorado healing center, they were our first Colorado development partner to make sure we had what they needed for compliance in Colorado.
- PATA (Psilocybin Assisted Therapy Association) – PATA has set a high standard of quality for their facilitator members, and they do a lot of education with their network of therapists and facilitators. It’s nice to have a partner we can lean on with a solid understanding of therapy and facilitation.
- Plus many others…
Heart-centered Approach
Althea has taken the North Star Ethics pledge, as we believe in the values of building trust, ensuring the process is a good one, learning from tradition, and paying it forward. To that end, we started the Forward Fund, which helps eliminate the cost barrier by awarding people scholarships for a psychedelic experience.
The team at Althea has big aims. We believe in this medicine, and we believe it has a multitude of ways it can help humanity. We think there is room for the spiritual route, the medicalized model, and personal use. We think that the rising tide will raise all ships. We’re here to support the amazing practitioners in the space and to help break down the longstanding stigma in the mainstream. We’re in it because we care, just like you. We hope you feel the same way and that you’ll join us in making psychedelics more accessible to those who need it most. Happy trails.
