Mobile Therapy Startup Backed by re:mind Capital

Ksana Health Secures $2 Million Seed Funding for Mental Health Platform

Ksana Health, a mental health technology startup, has successfully raised $2 million in seed funding. The investment round was spearheaded by re:Mind Capital, the venture capital division of Christian Angermayer and Apeiron Investment Group. This funding arrives amidst growing recognition of the increasing need for mental health support, particularly among younger demographics, and the rise of passive data collection techniques.

Company Overview and Founding

Based in Oregon, Ksana Health was established two years ago by Nicholas Allen, a clinical psychologist and the director of the Center for Digital Mental Health at the University of Oregon. The company’s core focus lies in the collection of mental health-related data and its subsequent delivery to healthcare professionals via a dedicated mobile application.

Currently, Ksana Health operates with a team of 12 employees. Additional investors participating in this funding round include WPSS Investments, Panoramic Ventures, the Telosity Fund, Palo Santo Venture Fund, and Able Partners.

EARS: The Existing Product

Ksana Health’s initial offering is the Effortless Assessment Research System (EARS). This product is specifically designed for use by institutions engaged in clinical research. Through a downloadable app, participants in clinical trials can voluntarily share data encompassing their movement, location (using GPS), keystroke patterns, and linguistic characteristics of their written communication – without the sharing of specific message content.

EARS facilitates two-way communication, enabling trial administrators to distribute surveys and maintain contact with participants. To date, the EARS platform has generated approximately $900,000 in revenue through its utilization in clinical trials.

Introducing Vira: A Consumer-Focused Platform

The recent funding will primarily support the development and launch of Vira, a new product targeted towards individual consumers. Like EARS, Vira will passively gather data points such as physical activity (measured by an accelerometer), screen time, keystroke activity, and location data obtained through smartphones or wearable devices.

Vira’s dashboard will also incorporate sleep data, although this isn’t currently listed as a directly recorded variable on the company’s website. This collected data will be accessible to a patient’s therapist, fostering a more informed and collaborative approach to care.

How Vira Will Work

Users will provide their therapist with a unique code granting access to the data collected from their mobile device. Therapists can then analyze these patterns and implement personalized behavioral prompts delivered directly to the user’s phone, encouraging activities like exercise or relaxation techniques before bedtime.

Nicholas Allen explains that the system transforms everyday smartphone usage data into valuable indicators of health behaviors known to impact mental well-being, including sleep patterns, physical activity levels, geographic mobility, mood, cognitive function, and social interaction.

Strategic Partnerships and Market Positioning

The development of Vira represents a significant step forward for Ksana Health. The company has also been selected to participate in Anthem Inc.’s Digital Incubator program, allowing for a pilot trial of Vira within Beacon Health Options, a behavioral health organization serving 37 million members.

Vira’s primary target demographic is individuals aged 13 to 30, a group experiencing a documented increase in mental health challenges, even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rising Rates of Mental Health Issues in Young Adults

A 2019 study published in “Abnormal Psychology,” analyzing data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, revealed a 63% increase (from 7.7% to 13.1%) in the prevalence of major depression symptoms among young adults (ages 18-25) between 2009 and 2017. Notably, the study did not observe a corresponding increase in mental distress or depression among older adults.

Data-Driven Mental Healthcare

Vira aims to provide therapists with exceptionally detailed data on patient well-being. While data collection within the mental health field is not novel – some AI-powered chatbots analyze user conversations – Vira distinguishes itself by its ability to constantly collect data across a wide range of passively trackable variables relevant to mental health.

Although clinical trials of Vira are not currently underway, the app’s underlying concept is grounded in established research validating each of its individual components. For example, studies have demonstrated a correlation between language used on social media and mood disorders, and between sleep patterns (both insufficient and excessive) and the risk of anxiety and depression.

A New Approach to Digital Wellbeing

Ksana Health’s approach shares similarities with other software solutions focused on leveraging digital activity to improve mental health. For instance, GoGuardian utilizes keystroke and search history monitoring in schools to identify students potentially at risk of self-harm.

In Clark County, Nevada, GoGuardian flagged 3,100 potential instances of self-harm between June and October 2020.

Human-Centered Design and Future Outlook

Ksana Health differentiates itself from systems like GoGuardian by prioritizing human oversight. Nicholas Allen emphasizes the company’s commitment to “keeping a human in the loop,” focusing on providing therapists with a comprehensive data dashboard rather than relying on automated flagging of harmful behaviors.

Jan Hardorp, a founding partner at re:Mind Capital, highlights the significance of the language component within Ksana Health’s data collection approach, combined with other sensor data, as a strong technological foundation for assessing and predicting mental states and depression.

re:Mind Capital’s investment strategy encompasses novel treatments (such as psychedelics), brain-computer interfaces, and technology-driven solutions. Ksana Health aligns with the latter category.

Ksana Health is planning clinical trials for the Vira program alongside the ongoing pilot program with Beacon Health. Hardorp expresses confidence in the platform’s viability, citing the success of the EARS platform as a positive indicator.

The Vira platform is anticipated to launch in the first quarter of 2022, marking a significant step towards accessible and data-driven mental healthcare.