According to new research published by Octopus Ventures, one of the leading investors in Europe, the investment for improving mental health has reached 750 million dollars (£580 million) in 2019. In this study, the research team has analyzed the latest Pitchbook data, involving 3,859 investors, 1,541 companies, and 3,779 deals.
Using this data, the team has found a global increase in mental health investment during the last six years. The results of this research have revealed a prominent increase in funding for mental health technology, with the average increase from 860,000 dollars (£660,000) in 2014 to 2.5 million dollars (£1.92 million) by the end of December 2019.
Ananda Impact Ventures is another investor in Cambridge-based IESO Digital Health that supports tech solutions related to mental health. According to a statement of Zoe Peden, investment manager at Ananda Impact Ventures, there has been a rapid increase in both the quality and volume of seed-stage mental health deals and she is expecting the same improvements in the near future.
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This new trend has been found to be quite beneficial for Big Health. Big Health is one of the mental health tech companies that is being supported by Octopus Ventures. The 2010-founded start-up that develops tech solutions for anxiety and insomnia patients declared an investment of almost 11.5 million dollars in 2016.
Similarly, Calm, an app for reducing stress, has declared funding of about 28.5 million dollars in July 2019. The research has shown that at the end of 2019, out of every 7 dollars invested in digital health technologies almost 1 dollar was invested in mental health technology.
Mental health is considered quite challenging in the field of biomedical research, presenting great potential for disruptors and innovators. The Chief Executive Officer of Big Health, Peter Hames, said in a statement that it is encouraging that investors are well-aware of the role that technology can play to deal with mental health issues.
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The findings of a study by mental health charity, Mind, has shown that every year approximately 25 percent of the UK population may suffer from mental health issues, burdening the UK economy. Peter Hames stated that Big Health expects that via an increase in funding, the investors will assist in dealing with this public health concern in not only the United Kingdom but throughout the world.
Octopus Ventures is proud of its contribution to enhancing investment in mental health technology. Kamran Adle is an investor in its Future of Health team. According to Adle, the United Kingdom has a great chance of being a leader in tackling such mental health problems, and Octopus Ventures is already working with companies like Big Health to deal with such public health issues.
The purpose of Octopus Ventures is to look for more early-stage companies and entrepreneurs that will aid in the development of new solutions for a large number of people who wish to improve their mental health. Such an initiative for dealing with issues regarding mental health seems to be beneficial both socially and economically.