Sober Sidekick named a finalist for the Kraft Prize

Bentonville-based startup Sober Sidekick^[1] was a finalist for the 2025 Kraft Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Community Health. The peer-led application that aims to decrease the rate of relapses among those seeking treatment for substance use was one of two finalists for the Kraft Prize.

The Kraft Center for Community Health at Mass General Brigham recently announced the two finalists and the winner. They were selected from nearly 150 applications from across the United States, all of which are working to make a transformative or innovative impact on health outcomes in their communities, according to the release.

“Launched in February 2025, the Kraft Prize is centered on five priority areas: cardiometabolic disease, substance use disorder, cancer, maternal health and social risk mitigation,” the release shows. “Applicants needed to demonstrate a clear and measurable impact on community health in at least one of these priority areas and show community engagement in the development and implementation of their company, program or innovation.”

The winner, St. Louis-based ThriveLink, received $100,000, and the finalists received $10,000. The other finalist, Mae, and Sober Sidekick also had representation on a panel at the Mass General Brigham World Medical Innovation Forum that took place Sept. 15-16 in Boston.

“Sober Sidekick has surpassed 1 million unique installs, scaling the greatest wave of comeback stories the world has ever seen,” said Chris Thompson, founder and CEO of Sober Sidekick. “That growth and its impact is what the Kraft Prize recognition affirms: We’re pioneering a new model for addiction care that puts community connection at its center. Traditional health care often treats addiction as an individual problem, but our platform proves that recovery is a collective journey. With peer support available 24/7 and where people can connect within seconds at their most vulnerable moments, we see measurable outcomes: a 48% reduction in relapse rates and thousands of dollars in health care savings per member.”

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