In case you haven't noticed, there are a lot of mental health startups these days, many of which were prompted by the pandemic and subsequent increased attention to mental health. is. However, in many cases there is little connection to clinical trials or health care systems.
A new venture from Britain's KHP Ventures is tackling this issue with new £20 million ($25.5 million) funding specifically aimed at accelerating start-ups tackling depression, anxiety and mental illness. I'm planning on fixing it.
The charity foundation Wellcome is supporting the fund as an anchor investor, contributing £8 million ($10.2 million).
The fund is scheduled to close in early 2025 and aims to raise a total of £20 million ($25.5 million). It plans to invest between 250,000 and 1 million pounds ($319,000 to $1.3 million) in startups.
KHP is an existing collaboration between King's College London, King's College Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It invests in healthcare and medical technology start-ups looking to expand their operations in the UK. KHP’s new Mental Health Innovation Fund will be supported by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, the UK’s largest mental health provider.
The company is initially offering a free 12-week intensive program. The selected startups will be evaluated by the fund for final investment. The program is open to start-ups from all over the world, but must focus on developing solutions for the UK market.
Startups that receive investment will receive support for clinical and academic trial development, access to patient and service data, and product testing in real-world settings. We will also have access to patient focus groups, experts, clinicians and academics thanks to our partnership with South London and Moseley NHS Foundation Trust.
Searches for mental health services are on the rise. Around 3.8 million people contacted NHS mental health services in England last year, almost two-fifths more than before the pandemic. This includes more than 1 million children, with 16-year-olds the most likely to seek support.
“We saw a need for a thematic fund in mental health,” said Dr. Pooja Sikka, founding general partner of the Mental Health Innovation Fund. “There are a lot of startups in this space and a lot of technology potential, but the right capital wasn't flowing into it.”
“Our lead investor, the Wellcome Trust, is raising the bar in the literature on expanding mental health, and in particular digital mental health,” she added.
Sikka pointed out that the nation's mental health is deteriorating, affecting all sectors of society. But at the same time, she believes we have realized the potential of technology. “What we really wanted to fund here was to create a very specific funding pool with the right support for startups,” she said.
“Millions of people are held back by mental health issues, and there is an urgent need for new and improved ways to help them live the lives they want.” Wellcome Digital mental health researcher Elena Netsi said in a statement.