A Wondermind securities fraud lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware is accusing Selena Gomez, her mother, and the founders of their mental health startup of concealing a years-long collapse from the investors who funded it. The plaintiffs say they put in nearly $1.2 million and got nothing back.
According to Forbes, the two plaintiff groups are Wondermind SRS 44 and Bespoke Wondermind SPV, both Florida-based limited liability companies. The defendants are Gomez, her mother and Wondermind co-CEO Mandy Teefey, former co-founder Daniella Pierson, and Wondermind Global Inc.
The charges are broader than the headline suggests. As Inc. reports, the complaint includes securities fraud, common-law fraud, and breach of contract, among other counts. Gomez’s attorney responded swiftly, calling the claims ‘completely meritless,’ with Gomez vowing to fight them.
What Investors Say They Were Promised
The complaint paints a picture of a startup held together by announcements that never happened. The New York Times reports that investors were told Wondermind had secured partnerships with J.P. Morgan and Fidelity, under which the startup would supply mental health and wellness services to those companies’ employees. Those partnerships, the complaint alleges, ‘did not exist.’
Advertising deals were promised. Celebrity cover stories were promised. An app was promised. The complaint’s own language is blunt: ‘The partnerships did not exist. The initiatives never materialized. The app was never built. And for three years, while the Company quietly collapsed around them, not one of its founders, officers, or directors said a word to the investors whose money was funding the collapse.’
Gomez, the complaint adds, ‘purported to sign a contract obligating her to perform and then ignored it.’ Investors allege she failed to market the startup despite that commitment, and that her level of involvement was overstated throughout.
The founders had also, according to TechTimes, represented a multi-billion-dollar valuation target to investors. The complaint alleges the company ‘had no plan at all, much less a plan for achieving a multi-billion-dollar valuation.’
The Wondermind Securities Fraud Timeline: Cash Out, Layoffs, and a Disputed Refund
Wondermind launched in 2021, aiming to deliver daily mental health resources to users. It raised $5 million in a seed round that included Lightspeed Venture Partners and Serena Ventures, according to Tracxn.
The company’s internal situation, as alleged in the complaint, deteriorated quietly. TechTimes reports the startup ran out of cash in May 2025, laying off approximately two-thirds of its staff. Investors first learned the full extent of the company’s troubles when a September 2025 story from The Cut exposed them publicly.
The plaintiffs sent a notice of rescission in November 2025, formally demanding the return of their funds. Then, in April 2026, co-CEO Mandy Teefey allegedly emailed an investor claiming the investment had already been returned. The complaint says that claim was false.
The plaintiffs are seeking recovery of their investment and legal fees. Wondermind did not respond to a request for comment.
Gomez’s legal team may be confident, but the complaint’s specificity on the J.P. Morgan and Fidelity representations, plus the alleged April 2026 email, means this is unlikely to disappear quietly. The next move is Wondermind’s response in court.
