Mental Health apps to cope with COVID anxiety
The coronavirus has led to a mental health pandemic. Financial anxiety, existential fear, social distancing and isolation have not only exacerbated existing disorders like OCD, depression, anxiety and other stress-related disorders, but have created wholly new issues in need of urgent attention and care. However, it has proven to be more difficult than ever to get this care from traditional in-person consultations with mental health professionals and psychologists due to social distancing measures and the associated high costs. Here, online platforms and apps offering mental health solutions have stepped in to ease the toll the pandemic is taking on their users. App intelligence platform App Annie reported that the average time spent on mental health and fitness apps spiked in the US by about 30% between December 29, 2019 and March 1, 2020.
According to a report by Absolute Market Insights, the global mental health apps market is expected to grow rapidly at a rate of 23.7% and generate $3.9B in revenue by the end of 2027. This optimism is reflected in Pitchbook data according to which investments in this sector have totalled $1.4B through the third quarter of 2020, already having outpaced the $1.1B invested in 2019.
Teletherapy and mental health consultation apps have seen a strong surge in demand and growth over recent months. Mindstrong announced $100M Series C from General Catalyst, ARCH Venture Partners, Foresite Capital, 8VC and others for its innovative virtual care model. It has seen a 138% rise in website traffic in the last 6 months and has bolstered its workforce by 108% in the last year. 7 Cups, which offers free counselling and provides community support, has seen its website traffic surge by 122% in the past 6 months and has increased its employee strength by 30% in the same period. MeruHealth, which aims to help people suffering from depression, burnout and anxiety by providing access to therapy, anonymous peer-support groups and a biofeedback system, raised $8.1M in Series A funding. It has seen its website traffic increase by 111% and its employee count increase by 32% in the last 6 months. Unmind and Happify have seen 310% and 70% growth in website traffic respectively. To keep up with this surge in demand, the have expanded their employee strength by 58% and 51% respectively. Unmind also announced a $10M Series A round to expand its global footprint led by Project A.
Cerebral, which launched in January of this year, raised a $35M Series A led by Oak FC/HT. With 80% of Cerebral clients having their initial consultation with a psychiatrist within 10 minutes of signing up, this quick model of lower lead time has seen the business explode in the last 6 months, with an increase in website traffic of 172%. It has expanded its workforce by 219% in the same period. Lyra Health, which caters to an organization’s workforce, attained unicorn status after raising $110M in a Series D round at a valuation of $1.1B. It has seen a boost of 15% in website traffic and 27% in employee count in the past 6 months. It has recently added the Calm meditation app in its offerings.
Meditation and mindfulness-based apps have also seen a surge in downloads, usage and consumer engagement in the months following the outbreak. To effectively handle this surge and maintain their upward trajectory, Calm, Insight Timer, Headspace, Ten Percent Happier and Meditopia have expanded their workforce by 55%, 51%, 23% 34% and 97% respectively YoY. Recent months have also seen an uptick in investment activity in this sector as VCs look to make the most of this opportunity. Headspace secured $47.7M in equity funding in June, after raising a $93M Series C in February. Meditopia announced $15M in Series A funding in July. Calm is exploring the possibility of raising $150M at a valuation of $2.2B.
As people continue to become more aware of the benefits of mindfulness and the necessity of therapy, the stakeholders of these apps can put their mind at ease for the demand for these apps is bound to increase.
