Healios, a digital health therapy startup for mental health, has received a £2.2m cash injection.
The company’s round was led by Albion Capital, which recently exited Grapeshot to Oracle, and Spice Capital.
Set up in 2013, Healios seeks to empower young patients and families affected by mental illness and neurodevelopmental conditions by leveraging technology and combining it with specialised clinician expertise and evidence-based clinical tools.
Richard Andrews, founder and CEO of Healios, said: “Technology and digital tools are resetting our expectations of every interaction that we have, including the way we think about mental healthcare. Healios brings transformative technology to the forefront of the treatment experience to deliver excellent mental healthcare that is accessible anywhere.
“Demand for our services continues to grow significantly as families require flexible and convenient assessment, treatment, and support. This funding will allow us to expand strategically to increase access, innovate rapidly, and execute on our vision to help families in need around the world.”
The news of the startup’s raise comes amid research released by Mind, which found that one in four people in the UK now experience a mental health issue each year.
Healios’ proprietary platform facilitates psychological assessments, treatments, wellbeing monitoring and clinical time with qualified clinicians through video conferencing and interactive digital tools.
The startup is already working with a many NHS trusts in a bid to reinvent the provision of mental health treatment so that it can be accessed quicker, and in both a flexible and inclusive way.
The service is currently integrated into the NHS network, operating on a seven day basis.
Healios will be use the cash to scale up the operations, enable more widespread accessibility for NHS trusts and private organisations to use its online treatment platform, and further product development.
Dr Andrew Elder, partner and head of healthcare at Albion Capital, commented: “Healios is a hugely exciting prospect, and offers a model that we believe can change the face of mental healthcare for millions of patients.
“Mental health cases in the NHS are rising dramatically and Healios not only provides a solution to meeting the demand, but also enhancing the service from both a personal and medical perspective.
“We look forward to working with the team to bring this extraordinary platform to many more families across the UK and beyond,” he added.
Maryline Kulawik, managing partner at Spice Capital went on to note that the firm was completely convinced by the patient-centric telemedicine platform.
“They have combined a unique state-of-art digital technology with a very deep knowledge of mental health issues to provide a flexible, effective and family-focused solution. They will help the community face the growing challenge of mental wellbeing and dramatically reduce delay in access to care.
“The platform will offer patients customised consultations from the comfort of their home and an acute data-driven monitoring of their condition. We are very excited to support the Healios team in this disruptive project with societal impact,” concluded Kulawik.
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