It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and this year’s theme is loneliness. Many people are silently suffering from loneliness around the globe, significantly contributing to poor mental health. In fact, The Mental Health Foundation’s research found that loneliness had only been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. More than half of UK workers are hiding a mental health decline whereas 51% of employees feel as if they have to put on a brave face for their colleagues. Workforces urgently need more rigorous support from employers as we’re already at risk of sleepwalking into a nationwide mental health crisis.
In an investment that bolsters the need for awareness and investment into mental health, the mental health platform MyMynd is today announcing receiving £650,000 in pre-Seed funding. Its investors in this round include Triple Point Ventures alongside several angel investors including Andrew Nadin, Southeastern Grocer’s Chief Customer and Digital Officer; Maurice Abboudi, a serial hospitality entrepreneur and investor on BBC 2’s ‘My Million Pound Menu’; and Will Jones, founder of online bookshop Wordery.
Purpose-led startup tackling isolation
“Isolation and uncertainty have amplified a silent mental health crisis in workforces across all sectors. Sadly, millions are more vulnerable, less able to cope and at greater risk of burnout,” says MyMynd’s CEO Henry Majed.
Senior officials at the NHS Confederation, as well as the Royal College of Psychiatrists, recently announced that millions are at risk of a ‘second pandemic’ of mental health issues caused by trauma, extended isolation and financial pressure. The Mental Health Foundation, a mental health charity estimates that mental illness currently costs the UK economy up to £100B through forfeited productivity.
MyMynd is providing employees with a digital platform through which they can gain access to mental health assessments based on clinically validated tools. These assessments are enabling employees to gain a detailed understanding of their mental health risks & wellbeing. Its users are guided toward resources tailored to their needs to improve their ability to cope. Through its proprietary algorithm, the service can detect those experiencing difficulties and MyMynd’s team of trained responders will swoop in, providing further guidance and support.
MyMynd is already in use by the NHS, where its staff have taken 8M mental health sick days in the past five years whenever they report feeling “brutalised” by an extreme workload. The London-based mental health platform now has partnerships in place with a cohort of NHS Trusts as well as departments within NHS England & NHS Improvement.
The startup was co-founded in 2019 by Henry Majed, its CEO who is a Visiting Fellow at Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Said Business School, University of Oxford and advisor to the WHO; and Chief Product Officer Leon Rodin, who has a leadership background in the public sector, charity and EdTech.
MyMynd plans to utilise the funds to expand its team in an effort to support growth, meet demand and scale its impact on employees across the UK. Chris Lascelles, an investor at Triple Point Ventures added, “The mental health crisis here in the UK is an increasingly serious issue. Sadly, it’s not been one that companies have been able to solve with much success to date. That’s why MyMynd is so exciting; Their engagement numbers are fantastic for this kind of tool, which is a testament to its effectiveness. This is a truly purpose-led business and we think it has huge potential.”
