Lightfully Behavioral Health is a startup that is expanding its network of mental health treatment centers in the tri-county region and across California. The company was founded last summer and opened its first treatment center in LA in March. It now has four facilities open in Southern California, with a fifth scheduled to open later this month in the Conejo Valley. The company plans for eight more brick and mortar openings by the end of this year and another five in 2023. Lightfully also plans to open a headquarters in the Westlake Village area. The company focuses on commercially insured clients and offers mental health services to adults, but plans to open facilities for adolescents and offer online treatment options. Lightfully’s second residential treatment facility is slated to open in December on El Segundo Drive.

“While the business is currently building out Southern California, we believe that there is a tremendous need for high quality, in-network providers nationwide and LIghtfully is planning on rapid multi-state expansion to help address that need,” Domenico Nicolia, the vice president at Regal Healthcare Partners told the Business Times. Regal Healthcare Partners is the private equity investment firm backing Lightfully.

The rate of mental conditions in the US is exploding, with one in five Americans experiencing mental illness. The pandemic has fueled the demand for mental health services.