NEW DELHI: Mental health may have become a focal point for both individuals and companies alike after Covid, but funding in the sector has ironically witnessed a huge plunge in 2023. Private equity funding in the mental healthtech space dropped significantly to $3 million, only about one-fourth of value invested in the previous year, data culled from Tracxn showed.
This comes even as the overall healthcare sector continued to be a hub of PE deals in 2023, notching up $4.6 billion.
After Covid, mental wellbeing has become critical for individuals and companies. As a result, mental health startups saw a significant rise in demand in 2021, owing to the mental health issues brought on by the pandemic. Predictably, funding in these ventures surged to nearly $10 million and $12.1 million in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
“Mental health challenges are on the rise globally. Approximately 1 in every 8 people suffer from mental health disorders, according to the WHO. India is home to 446 mental healthtech startups, representing more than 6% of the total number of startups in this field worldwide. Indian mental healthtech startups have raised a total of $3.4 million in funding for 2023, notably lower than the global total of $824 million. However, in the first 10 days of 2024 alone, the sector has witnessed funding of $4.4 million, a growth over 31% compared to the previous year. Overall, Indian companies raised $40.4 million in this field till date, a small fraction compared to $13.5 billion raised globally. Noteworthy ventures like Amaha, securing $5.2 million, and Urban Health, securing $3.4 million, have attracted investor attention in this sector,” Tracxn co-founder Neha Singh told TOI.
Vidit Bahri, co-founder and chief growth officer Sukoon, a mental healthcare platform, said, “Investors have become cautious with what business models they are backing”.
This comes even as the overall healthcare sector continued to be a hub of PE deals in 2023, notching up $4.6 billion.
After Covid, mental wellbeing has become critical for individuals and companies. As a result, mental health startups saw a significant rise in demand in 2021, owing to the mental health issues brought on by the pandemic. Predictably, funding in these ventures surged to nearly $10 million and $12.1 million in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
“Mental health challenges are on the rise globally. Approximately 1 in every 8 people suffer from mental health disorders, according to the WHO. India is home to 446 mental healthtech startups, representing more than 6% of the total number of startups in this field worldwide. Indian mental healthtech startups have raised a total of $3.4 million in funding for 2023, notably lower than the global total of $824 million. However, in the first 10 days of 2024 alone, the sector has witnessed funding of $4.4 million, a growth over 31% compared to the previous year. Overall, Indian companies raised $40.4 million in this field till date, a small fraction compared to $13.5 billion raised globally. Noteworthy ventures like Amaha, securing $5.2 million, and Urban Health, securing $3.4 million, have attracted investor attention in this sector,” Tracxn co-founder Neha Singh told TOI.
Vidit Bahri, co-founder and chief growth officer Sukoon, a mental healthcare platform, said, “Investors have become cautious with what business models they are backing”.
