Toronto is home to a growing number of artificial intelligence startups, but few are applying the technology to such a personal and important field as mental health care. Founded by University of British Columbia classmates Moody Abdul and Alexander “Bergie” Bergholm, Toronto-based Klarify is helping therapists spend less time on paperwork and more time with their clients through an AI assistant designed specifically for mental health professionals.

With more than 11,000 therapists signed up across Canada and an expanding presence in the United States, Klarify is tackling one of the profession’s biggest challenges: administrative burnout. We spoke with Moody, CEO, and Bergie, CTO, about the personal experiences that inspired the company, how privacy remains at the centre of their platform, and why giving therapists back their time has become their mission.

What is your business called and what does it do?

Klarify is an AI assistant for therapists. After a session, Klara drafts the note. The therapist reviews and signs it. She also drafts letters, treatment plans, and session prep, builds a visual mind map of each session, and even handles a therapist’s marketing, like their public profile and blog. The short version: Klara does every job a therapist does, other than therapy itself. That frees them up for the work only they can do, being present with their clients.

What made you want to do this work?

Moody: Therapy changed my life before it became my work. My family came to Canada as refugees from Lebanon, and like a lot of families shaped by war, mental health was something you didn’t talk about. I grew up here without that stigma, so I was the lucky one. In my 20s, therapy took my relationship with my dad from broken to healed. I owe my therapist a lot for that. I’ve also been entrepreneurial my whole life. My first sale was in grade 4, selling caterpillars I collected at recess. I got sent to the principal’s office and had to give one kid his $5 back. That was my first lesson in regulation. Somewhere between those two things, this company was inevitable.

Bergie: I almost drowned when I was a kid. After that, I couldn’t touch water. I’d stop breathing. A play therapist helped me work through it, and eventually I was swimming again. That’s what therapy can do. It gave a kid his summers back. My career went a different direction: AI, self-driving cars, deep learning research, LLM infrastructure at Workday. Then Moody called about building for therapists, and something clicked. I got excited about giving therapists more time to breathe so they can be fully present with their clients, the part of the job only they can do. And once I started, I realized my own therapy journey wasn’t over. It was just beginning. My therapist gave me back the water. I want to do the same for therapists and give them back their time.

What problem did you want to solve with the business?

Before Klarify, Moody co-founded an AI meeting note taker called Circleback. His therapist saw it and said, “I wish I could use this, but I can’t.” Therapists won’t risk their clients’ privacy to make their own lives easier, so they were stuck writing notes by hand at 11 pm after their kids went to bed. A note takes most therapists about 15 minutes. Multiply that by a full caseload, and paperwork eats their evenings. Some were leaving the field over it. We built the tool that therapists wished existed: one that’s safe enough to actually use. With Klarify, a note takes about 2 minutes to review and sign.

Who are your clientele/demographics?

Therapists: psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, and counsellors. A therapist is a small business owner. Most work for themselves, get paid only when they see a client, and handle their own marketing, accounting, and insurance paperwork on top of the actual therapy. We serve solo practitioners and clinics, from one therapist to 150. More than 11,000 therapists have signed up, most of them in Canada. We got into Y Combinator this year, so the US is growing fast too.

How does your business make money? How does it work?

It’s a subscription, priced per therapist per month. There’s a free plan called Seed, so anyone can try it, and paid plans as your practice grows. How it works is simple. The client consents first, always. The therapist records the session, Klara drafts the note, and the therapist reviews and signs it. We never train AI on notes or client data, and the data is stored in Canada.

Where in the city can we find your profession?

We don’t have a storefront. You can find us from anywhere in the city at klarify.ca, and a therapist can sign up and be using Klara in about 30 seconds. In person, catch us at mental health conferences and therapist events. We’re the booth giving out succulents. At one conference this summer we gave out 600 of them, and therapists told us it was the best swag they’d ever gotten.

What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.

Ask: “Do you train your AI on my clients’ data? Show me where your privacy policy says so.” A lot of tools say “we don’t use your data” in the ad, then bury training permissions in the terms. Our answer: Klarify never trains on your notes or client data, the data is stored in Canada, and our policy says so in plain English.

What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?

M: The best part is the messages. Every day a therapist writes something like “you’ve made me love this job again” or “you gave me back my evenings with my family.” Recently, someone in a private therapist Facebook group asked about a competing tool, and our users filled the comments telling her to use Klarify instead. Nobody asked them to. That’s the whole company right there. The worst part is hearing how close some therapists are to burnout by the time they find us. This field loses good people to paperwork.

B: The best part is being small. On paper, that’s a losing hand. But AI has changed what a small team can ship, and we have one advantage the big teams can’t copy: we only build for therapists. Not every kind of practitioner. Just them. You can see it in demos. We put a therapist’s session mind map on the screen, and they say, “That’s like my brain.” You don’t get that reaction by building for everyone. The worst part of being small is that we have to earn trust one therapist at a time. Big companies get the benefit of the doubt from a logo. We get it from our privacy policy, our track record, and a lot of demos. It’s the right way to earn it, it’s just slow.

What is your favourite joke about your own profession?

M: How many therapists does it take to change a lightbulb? Just one, but the lightbulb really has to want to change.

B: Therapists tell us Klara gave them back their evenings. My co-founder and I are still looking for ours.

Where can we follow you?

Our website is klarify.ca. Moody hosts the Future of Therapy podcast and newsletter, where over 103,000 therapists follow along. We’re also on LinkedIn and Instagram.

PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?

Carbonhound. They’re a Toronto B Corp that takes the pain out of climate reporting for mid-sized businesses, from regulatory paperwork to getting sustainability projects funded. A fellow local team automating painful paperwork. We recognize the mission.