Singapore-based mental health startup Intellect has raked in $10 million in a Series A investing round led by HOF Capital. 

The oversubscribed round was also participated by its new investors, Headline, East Ventures, MS&AD Ventures, DG Daiwa Ventures, Pioneer Fund, as well as its existing investor, Insignia Ventures Partners. 

Since it launched in 2020, the company has raised a total of $13 million.

WHAT IT DOES

Intellect offers an end-to-end unified mental healthcare platform. It provides mental health benefits for employers which feature clinical-based digital therapy programmes, along with telehealth services. Its consumer-facing product is an app that hosts self-guided cognitive behaviour therapy programmes.

Available on both iOS and Android devices, the app now has over three million users across 20 countries. Recently, it signed in major enterprise clients, such as foodpanda, Singtel and Schroders. Intellect claims an employee adoption rate of between 20% and 40%.

WHAT IT'S FOR

In a press statement, Intellect said it will use its fresh funds to rapidly scale its offerings and presence across Asia. It will be adding more products to serve the entire mental healthcare spectrum, from self-care to live counselling, coaching, and crisis management care.

"To massively scale our offerings across Asia, we’re now hiring across our product, engineering, and commercial teams, as well as building our presence in key markets," Intellect co-founder and CEO Theodoric Chew shared.

WHY IT MATTERS

The latest Work Trend Index report by Microsoft revealed that workers in Asia-Pacific (APAC) are experiencing burnout due to COVID-19's impact on workplaces. Of the more than 6,000 respondents, close to one third said they experienced burnout in the first half of 2021 mainly due to the lack of separation between work and personal life. Among countries, Singapore and India reported the most number of burned-out workers. 

Aware of such mental health concerns in the workplace, employers in the region are working on improving their employee healthcare programmes. Based on a Willis Towers Watson survey in 2020, two in five of over 700 employers in APAC plan to enhance their mental health services while a quarter said they will prioritise providing access to affordable and high-quality services. During the pandemic, over 80% of the respondents' organisations have promoted digital mental health for their employees.

"It is very clear that there is [a] growing demand for mental healthcare in Asia that will surge even higher in the new normal. At the same time, existing mental health benefits and mental healthcare systems are underequipped to service this surging need at scale," said Chew whose company has a "broader vision of building an entirely new mental healthcare system tailored specifically for Asia".

MARKET SNAPSHOT

In August, fellow Singaporean health app MindFi netted $750,000 in a pre-seed funding round which was deployed for product development and expansion in Asia. A much older competitor to Intellect, the mental health platform started out as a consumer-focused business before venturing into corporate health. Its app provides personalised recommendations, guided self-care programmes and smart matching with coaches and therapists.

In other news, Intellect recently teamed up with non-profit organisation Care Corner Singapore to offer a free six-month premium app subscription for the latters' clients and partners from November to end-May.