MENTAL HEALTH START-UPS FOSTER TIES WITH INDIA INC

Offer what employees need the most right now — solution to pandemic stress

In March, entrepreneur Pooja Khanna had to temporarily shut all three offline premises she opened in Gurugram just four months ago. Khanna, co-founder of mental wellness start-up Mindhouse, realised Covid-19 disruptions could hit the core business model, and she promptly started working towards an online launch.

Khanna, who calls her start-up ‘gym for your mind’, is not alone in trying to help lessen people’s mental health burden.

The country’s digital landscape is dotted with innovative mental health start-ups, and they have been seeing traction now more than ever, as more and more people try to cope with stress, depression, or anxiety amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

A bunch of these mental health start-ups has pivoted to a digital-first approach, and even discovered a new revenue stream by fostering ties with corporate houses for customised solutions.

Khanna said their app was “exclusive to our studio members, and was mainly for booking slots”. But “we refurbished the interface in less than two weeks to host live classes and have curated content”, she said.

Mindhouse claims it offers preventive wellness and is not just restricted to people having clinical symptoms. “This factor has helped us unlock a wider market, and win over 600 corporate partnerships in four months during the lockdown,” Khanna said.

The app has hit over 100,000 downloads since March. Mindhouse, founded by Khanna along with Zomato's co-founder Pankaj Chaddah in December, also plans to roll-out services in Hindi in a few weeks.

Telemedicine, a boon in times of Covid-19, has also made inroads into the space.

Puneet Manuja, co-founder of digital mentalhealth portal Yourdost, said: “The lockdown and its repercussions have made people anxious. The worst part is they don't know when normalcy would return.” The platform has over 900 psychologists and life coaches and offers chat, voice, and video-based solutions.

The start-up’s volume of daily counselling has more than doubled since the lockdown. IT was handling around 2,500 sessions per day on average before the lockdown.

Yourdost, too, has done 50-60 corporate partnerships in the past five months. “The option of 20 local languages has enabled us to deliver solutions to even blue collar workers or delivery partners of some companies,” Manuja said.

Chatbot-based apps have also strengthened their play as most users prefer non-human interactions. One such app is Wysa.

The artificial intelligence-powered chatbot claims it puts in place stringent clinical protocols and says depression symptoms could be detected with 90 per cent accuracy. It also auto-escalates issues to local helpline numbers to address emergencies. The company has seen 2.1 million installs globally. During April to June, new signups more than doubled when compared to the corresponding period last year. Presently, it is adding around 3,500-4,000 installs daily.

While business to consumer remains Wysa's mainstream user base, it has tied up with 12 corporate brands, insurance firms, and hospitals to offer customised solutions since foraying into the business to business space last year.