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Image credits: HelloSelf

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for digital adoption and reinvention in the healthcare system.

As a matter of fact, digital therapeutics is a fast emerging class of therapies in the healthcare industry to change patient’s behaviour and treat medical conditions using various digital technologies. 

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What is Digital therapy?

In simple terms, Digital therapeutics, a subsidiary of digital health, provides evidence-based software-driven therapeutic interventions for the prevention & management of a medical disease or disorder. It comes in numerous varieties, each requiring different strategies to drive adoption.

Digital therapies have already shown efficacy in certain fields and treatments like the brain nervous system, mental health issues, and others, which are difficult to treat with traditional treatments. 

In the UK and other parts of the world, where mental health is already an extremely serious issue, clinically approved evidence-based digital therapies are undergoing the fast track system. 

According to the Centre for Mental Health estimates up to 10 million people in the UK will need either new or additional mental health support as a direct consequence of the crisis. 

Meet HelloSelf

And here’s where HelloSelf, an AI-powered digital therapy service fills the gap. Based out of London, HelloSelf provides individuals and organisations with personalised digital therapy services. 

The UK company has recently raised a £5.5M (approx €6.4M) Series A funding round from VC firm OMERS Ventures, with participation from investors including Manta Ray Ventures, Oxford Capital Partners, and 2EnablePartners.

As a part of the funding round, Harry Briggs, OMERS Ventures Managing Partner will join the board. The Series A funding round brings the funding raised to date to £8.1M (approx €9.4M).

The investment will be used primarily to build HelloSelf’s B2B proposition – the HelloSelf @Work service – which will help organisations of all sizes in the UK to provide tailored ‘needs-based’ mental health support services to their employees. 

Birth of HelloSelf

Charles Wells founded HelloSelf after he woke from a coma after a brain haemorrhage in 2011. “Overnight I went from a high-flying ad exec to someone sponge bathed by their mum and wife,” says Charles in his blog. 

Post coma, he worked only on projects with a world-changing impact. After spending five successful years at JustGiving, helping raise over £4B (approx €4.6B) for charities in the UK, Charlie founded ‘BrainTech’ startup HelloSelf.

“HelloSelf brings together the world of Technology, Neuroscience and Psychology to try and help people not just understand who they are and what they are capable of… but to unlock the science of Self and use it to help every person on this planet be the best version of their Self they can be,” adds Charles Wells. 

Online therapy with UK’s best clinical psychologists

Founded in 2018, HelloSelf is an online therapy and psychological coaching service, that connects users to the UK’s best clinical psychologists and provides AI-enhanced online support between sessions.

With a team of over 150 clinical psychologists, engineers, and developers, HelloSelf offers clinically informed skills and knowledge to provide early intervention, prevention, skills training, and treatment to its users. The company uses data, feedbacks, and outcomes to personalise treatment plans and the service it provides.

Served 15x more this 2021

According to the company, HelloSelf served 15x more people with online therapy and psychological coaching in February 2021 compared to the previous year. 

Charlie Wells, the founder of HelloSelf, comments: “Our mission has always been to help more people say Hello to their best Self more often. Never has this been more important. Raising this additional growth capital enables us to help even more people and to deliver them more hopeful futures.”