AI Powered Mental Health App Wysa raises $5.5 million from W Health Ventures & Others
Wysa, an AI-powered mental health app, has raised $ 5.5 million in a Series A funding round led by W Health Ventures, a Boston-based digital health investor. Existing investors Google Assistant, Pi Ventures, and Kae Capital joined the round, along with a clutch of family-owned businesses.
According to co-founder Ramakant Vempati, the company will use the new funding to expand its offerings for business-to-business clients and hire more staff to meet potential incoming demand.
In 2019, the startup raised pre-Series A funding led by pi Ventures, with participation from Kae Capital and others. With this latest round, the Boston and Bengaluru-based startup has raised nearly $9 million in total funding.
“As we enter the second year of the pandemic, so many people are struggling and seeking mental health support. Wysa is an example of how technology is helping millions of people access everyday mental health support and self-care tools without being gated by a clinical diagnosis. We are thrilled to deepen our relationship to support Wysa’s next phase of growth," said Dr. Pankaj Jethwani, executive vice president at W Health Ventures.
Wysa currently employs 60 people across three offices in Boston, Bengaluru, and London. Licensed therapists make up half of the workforce. According to Vempati, the company expects to add another 20-40 employees based on how the business grows.
Wysa is an app that provides mental health support via its free AI chatbot, as well as self-help resources and paid access to therapists. According to Vempati, the company caters to the "missing middle" in the mental health space, straddling its offerings between the two extremes of those in need of serious clinical psychiatric help and those who only need wellness or meditation or other such offerings.
Wysa helps in dealing with stress, depression, and anxiety with the help of an ‘emotionally intelligent’ bot, which uses evidence-based cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT), meditation, breathing, and mindfulness exercises, as well as micro-actions, to help users build mental resilience skills.
The platform provides a workplace solution that addresses the full range of mental health needs for employers. This solution integrates into existing company benefits, such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) or external health care provider networks, and can be tailored to a specific geography or cohort.
“With mental health becoming another pandemic in the making globally, there is an acute shortage of qualified mental health professionals to take care of the growing demand. On the back of a disruptive AI engine trained for mental health conversations, Wysa brings an effective and cutting-edge approach to solve this problem at a global scale," Manish Singhal, founding partner, pi Ventures.
Wysa currently facilitates over 100 million conversations in 65 countries around the world and collaborates with 20 enterprise partners.
“For the first time, employers use data to understand how the mental wellbeing of their employees is constantly changing, and how it compares against benchmarks. Today, every employer is looking for a solution that goes beyond traditional EAP. This investment allows us to bring the next generation of workforce wellbeing solutions to organizations across the country," said Wysa co-founder and chief executive officer, Jo Aggarwal.
The company claims that its app has 3.5 million sign-ups so far. B2B clients include healthcare providers, corporations, and insurance companies.
According to co-founder Ramakant Vempati, the company will use the new funding to expand its offerings for business-to-business clients and hire more staff to meet potential incoming demand.
In 2019, the startup raised pre-Series A funding led by pi Ventures, with participation from Kae Capital and others. With this latest round, the Boston and Bengaluru-based startup has raised nearly $9 million in total funding.
“As we enter the second year of the pandemic, so many people are struggling and seeking mental health support. Wysa is an example of how technology is helping millions of people access everyday mental health support and self-care tools without being gated by a clinical diagnosis. We are thrilled to deepen our relationship to support Wysa’s next phase of growth," said Dr. Pankaj Jethwani, executive vice president at W Health Ventures.
Wysa currently employs 60 people across three offices in Boston, Bengaluru, and London. Licensed therapists make up half of the workforce. According to Vempati, the company expects to add another 20-40 employees based on how the business grows.
Wysa is an app that provides mental health support via its free AI chatbot, as well as self-help resources and paid access to therapists. According to Vempati, the company caters to the "missing middle" in the mental health space, straddling its offerings between the two extremes of those in need of serious clinical psychiatric help and those who only need wellness or meditation or other such offerings.
Wysa helps in dealing with stress, depression, and anxiety with the help of an ‘emotionally intelligent’ bot, which uses evidence-based cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT), meditation, breathing, and mindfulness exercises, as well as micro-actions, to help users build mental resilience skills.
The platform provides a workplace solution that addresses the full range of mental health needs for employers. This solution integrates into existing company benefits, such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) or external health care provider networks, and can be tailored to a specific geography or cohort.
“With mental health becoming another pandemic in the making globally, there is an acute shortage of qualified mental health professionals to take care of the growing demand. On the back of a disruptive AI engine trained for mental health conversations, Wysa brings an effective and cutting-edge approach to solve this problem at a global scale," Manish Singhal, founding partner, pi Ventures.
Wysa currently facilitates over 100 million conversations in 65 countries around the world and collaborates with 20 enterprise partners.
“For the first time, employers use data to understand how the mental wellbeing of their employees is constantly changing, and how it compares against benchmarks. Today, every employer is looking for a solution that goes beyond traditional EAP. This investment allows us to bring the next generation of workforce wellbeing solutions to organizations across the country," said Wysa co-founder and chief executive officer, Jo Aggarwal.
The company claims that its app has 3.5 million sign-ups so far. B2B clients include healthcare providers, corporations, and insurance companies.
