In case you hadn’t noticed, there are a lot of mental health startups out there these days, many of which were prompted to launch following the pandemic and the subsequent widespread focus on mental health. However, they often have scant relationships with clinical trials or healthcare systems.
A new venture from the U.K.’s KHP Ventures, is planning to correct that by raising a new £20 million ($25.5 million) fund specifically aimed at accelerating startups that are addressing depression, anxiety and psychosis.
Wellcome, a charitable foundation, is supporting the fund as its anchor investor, committing £8 million ($10.2 million).
The fund is expected to close early in 2025, aiming to raise a total of £20 million ($25.5 million). It will invest between £250,000 to £1 million ($319,000 to $1.3 million) in startups.
KHP is an existing collaboration between King’s College London, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It invests in healthcare and medtech startups that aim to have operations in the U.K.. KHP’s brand new Innovations in Mental Health Fund will be supported by the U.K.’s largest mental health provider, the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
Initially, the firm is running a free, 12-week immersion program. Startups selected will be evaluated for eventual investment by the fund. The program is open to startups across the world, but they must show a focus on developing solutions for the U.K. market.
Startups that attain investment will receive support for developing clinical and academic trials, accessing patient and service data, and testing their product in a live environment. They will also get access to patient focus groups, experts, clinicians, and academics, thanks to the partnership with the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
The search for mental health services is on the rise. Around 3.8 million people were in contact with the U.K.’s NHS mental health services over the last year, up almost two-fifths compared to before the pandemic. This includes more than 1 million children, with 16-year-olds most likely to be seeking support.
“We felt that there was a need for a thematic fund in mental health,” said Dr Pooja Sikka, the founding general partner of the Innovations in Mental Health Fund. “There are a lot of startups in this space and lots of technology potential in this space, but there wasn’t the right capital flowing to it.”
“Our anchor investor, the Wellcome Trust, is trying to raise the bar on scaling mental health, and in particular, a thesis on digital mental health,” she added.
Sikka noted that the population’s mental health has gotten worse and it’s affecting every section of society. But at the same time, she believes we’ve understood the potential of technology. “Really what we wanted the funding to do here was to create a very specific pool of capital, but with the right support for the startups,” she said.
“Millions of people are held back by mental health problems. There is a pressing need for new and improved ways that we can help them live the lives they wish to lead,” Elena Netsi, research lead in digital mental health at Wellcome, said in a statement.