Mental health

→ Startups’ choice of business model will be critical to winning over customers and scaling up.

→ Startups hiring in-house therapists may be slower to scale than those that match client and expert, or provide therapy content — but by being able to impose their own hiring requirements, they may find it easier to ensure quality care.

→ With most startups focused on improving wellness or moderate cases of depression or anxiety, patients with serious mental illnesses often lack access to digital care.

→ These patients represent a smaller market with less competition and, considering the costs and challenges, are arguably where tech could have the biggest impact.

→ With more and more startups funnelling patients into similar pathways, it’s becoming harder for digital therapy providers to stand out from the crowd.

→ While startups are starting to add features in adjacent areas like exercise and sleep, in the future there may also be apps tailored to specific demographics, such as children.

→ In contrast to their consumer-facing counterparts, a new wave of startups is using deeptech to better diagnose mental health issues, measure the effectiveness of treatments or create altogether new ones.

→ Their approaches range from evaluating biomarkers and facial expressions to applying technologies like VR in therapy environments.