Mental health startup Intellect scores $10m in Series A funding

Intellect, one of Asia’s largest and fastest-growing startup that focuses on mental health, announced raising $10 million in its Series A funding round led by New York-based investor HOF Capital.

The fresh funding brings the Singapore-based startup’s total funding to date to $13 million. It also marked the largest Series A ever raised by a mental health startup in the region, according to the announcement.

The oversubscribed round was also backed by Headline, East Ventures, MS&AD Ventures, DG Daiwa Ventures, Pioneer Fund, and existing investor Insignia Ventures Partners.

Other notable angel investors in this round included Shopback Co-founder & CEO Henry Chan, Cathay Innovation’s Rajive Keshup, former Headspace VP of Engineering Neel Palrecha, Co-founder of US unicorn Forge Samvit Ramadurgam, Peak Co-founder Sagi Shorrer, Snap Inc. Director of SEA Anubhav Nayyar, Tinder & Match Group GM of SEA Gaurav Girotra, along with family office funds of billionaire founders.

“It is very clear that there is a growing demand for mental healthcare in Asia that will surge even higher in the new normal,” said Intellect co-founder and CEO Theodoric Chew. “At the same time, existing mental health benefits and mental healthcare systems are under-equipped to service this surging need at scale.

“Intellect goes beyond supporting workforces, going deeper into our broader vision of building an entirely new mental healthcare system tailored specifically for Asia,” Chew added.

With the fresh funding, Intellect plans to scale its offerings across Asia by hiring people for its product, engineering, and commercial teams, and building its presence in key markets.

The latest funds will also be used to grow Intellect’s customers and network of behavioural health coaches and clinical therapists.

Intellect has over three million users, provides coverage in 20 countries, and is available in 15 languages.

“The funding will also be used to grow the company’s product offering to serve the entire spectrum of mental healthcare, from self-care programs to live counselling, coaching, and crisis management care,” according to the announcement.

Intellect saw its year-on-year revenue surge by over 20 fold in 2021, with a major uptick in enterprise clients signing on to its corporate mental health benefits solution – such as foodpanda, Shopback, Singtel, Kuehne & Nagel, and Schroders, amongst others – cementing itself as one of the largest and fastest growing mental health startups in Asia.