ifeel raises 10M€ to support companies caring for their employees' mental health
ifeel, the global emotional well-being service for companies, has raised an €10M Series A investment led by UNIQA Ventures, in which Nauta Capital and other investors have also participated.
ifeel has filled a much-needed gap in the market as employers look to address the emotional well-being of their employees. Born in 2017, the company has one mission to increase access to mental health care through digital channels. Since then, it has combined data analytics and clinical research by psychologists on its platform to provide employees with a new way to manage their emotional well-being, from self-care to therapy sessions.
ifeel's unique service made it the chosen digital solution for large distributors such as insurance companies and employee benefit brokers in several countries. In the last five years, the company has added companies like AXA Partners, SCOR SE, Glovo, Travelperk, Gympass, Thoughtworks, González Byass to its roster, supporting them with psychological prevention and intervention if necessary.
In total, ifeel has raised €18M since inception and this additional 10M€ investment will be used to expand the business into new markets, introduce new products, and increase sales capabilities. The company will continue to focus on large companies. In fact, its scalability already allows it to start operating in large organizations in less than a week.
More than 600 psychologists offer therapy in the 23 countries where ifeel operates. The service, which is available in 21 languages, has already been used by more than 800,000 employees worldwide. In the past financial year, ifeel recorded a growth rate of 200%.
"Health requires a balance between what goes on at work and outside of it. For us, there is no strict division between professional and personal life; everything is personal. We firmly believe that work should not be a reason to interrupt taking care of our well-being. On the contrary: it should be a space where we are well and can thrive at different levels. From this point on, our goal is to help companies integrate this mindset into their corporate culture," said ifeel's CEO Amir Kaplan.
Moreover, UNIQA Ventures has expressed their satisfaction with finding what they were looking for in ifeel: "A strong European player with a B2B2C mental health platform. Its tools make it possible to serve large clients with many end users at the same time while maintaining attractive commercial margins."
Artificial intelligence and online psychological therapy
ifeel uses artificial intelligence to provide care for people’s psychological well-being. Leveraging on over 10 million data-points, the platform is able to, on one side, efficiently screen, triage and prioritise several users profiles and, on the other, customise their user experience through a blend of hundreds of clinical tools and AI-enhanced personalised recommendations. Through their tools, an individual can access different resources depending on their needs and interests: articles on health-related topics, an emotions diary, audio guides, and tools to facilitate relaxation or meditation. They can also speak directly to professional psychologists or initiate an online therapy session through the service.
One of the latest tools built into the platform is its Monthly Check-up or Ryff’s Emotional Wellbeing Index developed in collaboration with University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor Carol Ryff. The questionnaire based on Ryff's psychological well-being scale uses 18 questions to gauge people's emotional health. The results serve as a way for the individuals to see how their emotional health evolves month-to-month and use them in their discussion with their psychologist if they want.
The aggregated anonymous – confidentiality is guaranteed – data can be accessed by HR managers to better understand difficulties employees are experiencing in terms of psychological well-being of the firm, helping them make the best decisions for overall employee well-being.
