InnerHour, a mental health platform has raised $5.2 million from venture capital firm Lightbox, making this one of the largest fundraise in the Indian mental health ecosystem till date. Lightbox led the funding with an investment of $4.5 million. Other angel investors who participated included Capricorn Ventures & Micasa Investments (Singapore), Pankaj Sahni, CEO Medanta–The Medicity Hospitals and Hitesh Oberoi, CEO & MD, Info Edge India Pvt. Ltd.
InnerHour will use this funding to scale its technology-led mental health platform, as it gets set to serve a section of the 200 million Indians currently suffering from mental health conditions, the company said in a statement.
“We believe a tech-led ecosystem that offers seamless continuity of care and support, is very much the need of the hour for the millions suffering & seeking quality mental healthcare today. This round of funding gives us the opportunity to further build our omni-channel products & services, catering to a range of mental health conditions,” said Dr. Amit Malik, founder and CEO.
For the past 3 years, Dr Malik has been using tech to standardize quality offerings and solve for early intervention. The InnerHour app claims to have 900,000 plus downloads and has consistently ranked #1-2 on Play Store for self-help/self-care globally.
In the next phase of development, Dr Malik along with co-founder Neha Kirpal will build a full stack offering, focused on the varying needs of individual users across the entire care continuum.
“InnerHour’s technology platform combined with a holistic, outcome-driven approach ensures that users get the best support as they learn how to manage their conditions. The technology platform helps caregivers get current and accurate information on users’ condition and progress thereby ensuring that their time is spent in truly providing care,” said Sandeep Murthy, Partner at Lightbox.
While India today accounts for a 1/3rd of the global burden of depression, addictions and suicides, there is still a 95% treatment gap in the country due to lack of access and awareness, affordability and variable quality of care providers.
