Wysa, an Indian-based AI-enabled mental health application, has announced that the startup has secured an undisclosed amount of investment from the Google Assistant Fund.
Launched in 2018, the Google Assistant Investments program was designed to assist early-stage startups in advancing their digital assistant ecosystem and innovating new ideas. Wysa has also recently topped the list of best apps in India for 2020.
Wysa was also among the first startups to be included in the Google For Startups launchpad program in India in 2018.
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The startup has already raised funding of $3.9 million from investors like Kae Capital and pi Ventures.
Talking about this new funding, Moez Kaderali, program manager for the Google Assistant Investments Program, stated in its official release that the post-COVID era had urged people to take care of their mental health, sleep patterns and anxiety on a daily basis. With Wysa’s explainable AI – combining natural language understanding with clinical assurance, users will be able to manage their mental health in this new normal environment.
Jo Aggarwal and Ramakant Vempati founded the application in 2015 to give early intervention to high-risk groups. It has been equipped with an AI-based, emotionally intelligent chatbot, along with evidence-based resources for self-help tools and messaging-based support from human therapists.
While the app doesn’t address severe mental illness, it assists users in undergoing early-stage supportive therapy. Currently, Wysa is equipped with Indian therapists who address around 3 million users from 65 countries, with approximately 80-85% of their users are from abroad.
Some of the organisations that have tied up with Wysa includes — UK’s National Health Service, Ohio-based Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and other insurance companies. The app has also been launched nationally by the Government of Singapore.
Addressing this, Jo Aggarwal, co-founder and chief executive of Wysa, stated to the media — the app aimed to address mental health issues at a scale that is “low cost and clinically assured.” The company is planning to expand beyond literacy and language barriers using voice features equipped with local languages. And that is why “Google Assistant Fund is our ideal partner,” concluded Agarwal.
