HelloSelf Files for IPO: UK Digital Therapeutics Pioneer Backed by NHS Reports 20% Improvement in Mental Health Treatment Efficiency

In recent years, digital therapeutics (DTx) have rapidly developed and garnered significant industry attention due to their unique advantages. Originating in the United States in 2010, DTx saw subsequent active exploration in Europe—led by the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium—and in East Asia, represented by China, Japan, and South Korea. This growing global interest has driven tangible progress in the field of digital therapeutics.

Among them, the United Kingdom has played the role of a pioneer in digital therapeutics in Europe.The UK government launched the NHS Innovation Accelerator in 2015 to accelerate the integration of digital innovations into healthcare., in 2018, a comprehensive framework was proposed to accelerate the rapid development of digital therapeutics in the UK, highlighting the need for preparedness in areas such as integrated app processing platforms, compliant marketing claims, privacy and security guidelines, potentially included clinical guidelines, value-based incentives, and interoperability standards.

HelloSelf, a digital therapeutics company, was incubated against this backdrop, providing personalized digital mental health treatment services to individuals and organizations.

VCBeat has learned that HelloSelf recently secured approximately $20 million in Series B funding, led by Octopus Ventures. According to available data, HelloSelf has raised a total of $31.3 million across four funding rounds. With the new capital, HelloSelf plans to further develop its business and expand its team of professional therapists and partners in the UK and Europe.

HelloSelf Financing History

Data Source: Crunchbase

HelloSelf, founded by Charles Wells in London, UK, in 2018, is one of the fastest-growing digital therapeutics platforms in the world.

In 2011, Charles Wells fell into a coma after an arterial tear in his visual cortex. Following his miraculous recovery, he dedicated himself to work with significant social impact. As Chief Operating Officer of JustGiving, the UK’s online charitable fundraising platform, he helped British charities raise over €460 million during his five-year tenure. This experience inspired him to focus on self-improvement. Drawing from his personal journey and conversations with doctors and scholars, he recognized the lack of accessible psychotherapy in society—a critical pain point—and subsequently founded HelloSelf.

Charles Wells describes HelloSelf as bringing together technology, neuroscience, and psychology to help people understand themselves and become their best selves.

As an online therapy and psychological counseling service platform, HelloSelf leverages artificial intelligence to drive its platform development, connecting its users with the UK’s top clinical psychologists. It collaborates with partners such as healthcare professionals, the NHS, insurance companies, and family members to optimize the efficiency and quality of care for its users.

Since its launch, HelloSelf has become the most recommended platform of its kind by doctors across the UK. It currently collaborates with over 150 clinically registered therapists, who provide services to 1,000 users each week. The vast majority of patients achieve recovery within an average of eight therapy sessions.

Selected Psychiatric Consultant Partners

Image source: HelloSelf official website

A meta-analysis of 17 studies published in The Lancet concluded that remote cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is as effective as face-to-face therapy and offers greater accessibility. HelloSelf employs remote CBT. On its online therapy platform, users can consult clinical psychology experts anytime, anywhere, and the app, designed by psychologists, also provides messaging and tracking features.

HelloSelf has been in operation for five years, with its uniqueness lying in the formula: “Expertise and Research + Technology and Clinical Platform Capabilities = Personalized, Effective Treatment Plans.”

First, HelloSelf partners exclusively with top-tier clinicians. All 150 of its clinicians and therapists boast at least ten years of clinical experience, are registered with the HCPC or accredited by the BABCP, and collectively cover a broad spectrum of specialties and therapeutic modalities.

For these clinicians, the platform reduces non-clinical work time by providing shortcuts, cutting administrative burden from 45 minutes to approximately 14 minutes.

Second, HelloSelf is centered on clinical outcomes. Research by Clark et al. indicates that few private psychotherapy clinics fully leverage clinical measurement data, whereas the HelloSelf platform directly uses patient metrics as a tool to assess and monitor users’ treatment progress.

Finally, HelloSelf tracks and improves user treatment outcomes. It uses artificial intelligence to match patients with therapists and also provides access to other clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, and CBT therapists.

Each user and their dedicated therapist can track treatment progress, fostering greater collaboration and transparency. This enables users to visually perceive and tangibly feel their improvement, thereby significantly enhancing treatment adherence.

This approach enhances the traditional treatment experience, enabling users to receive care within weeks—on average 20% faster than conventional face-to-face therapy. Moreover, even after therapy sessions conclude, HelloSelf continues to monitor users’ progress through its platform.

Leveraging these advantages, HelloSelf has achieved a user satisfaction rating of 4.7 out of 5. An increasing number of users are opting for HelloSelf’s remote therapy services. In 2021, the company’s service volume expanded fifteenfold. Currently, it helps approximately 2,000 users achieve recovery each year, with annual revenue exceeding £2.5 million.

For a 50-minute talk therapy session, HelloSelf charges based on the therapist's level:

Clinical Director — from £150.00 (RMB 1,252.98)

Clinical/Counseling Psychologist — from £125.00 (RMB 1,044.15)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapist — Starting from £110.00 (RMB 918.85)

In China, if one merely seeks to determine whether they have a mental disorder, the registration fee ranges from 10 to 100 yuan. For psychotherapy, a standard 50-minute session costs around 300 yuan. While some private psychological counseling services may charge several thousand yuan per session, fees at public hospitals are generally lower than those charged by private counseling agencies.

HelloSelf is a trusted partner of the NHS across the UK, insurance companies, healthcare professionals, and users. HelloSelf’s collaboration with the NHS marks the company’s first government partnership. They maximize resource utilization to achieve optimal outcomes by combining their respective expertise.

This pilot partnership will enable therapists within the NHS in Central and North West London to refer patients to HelloSelf. Following referral, NHS clinicians can monitor patients’ treatment progress in real time through their HelloSelf platform accounts, which is invaluable for ensuring optimal clinical outcomes. Additionally, the NHS can leverage HelloSelf’s AI-powered matching tool to pair users with therapists who best meet their specific needs.

In addition, HelloSelf has launched a collaborative project with the Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (OMS) charity to help everyone in the OMS community access high-quality psychological support; established a partnership with the Cardinal Clinic mental health clinic to promote the development of psychiatric networks; and addressed the mental well-being of 250,000 employees through employer programs, including staff at Fox Williams, PJT, Berkeley, BGF, and Impression Media. The company also collaborates with all leading health insurers, including Zurich, AXA, Aviva, Vitality, and Bupa.

Some Partners

Data source: HelloSelf official website

Mental health is one of the first areas where digital therapeutics (DTx) have been implemented. DTx provides more service tools for mental health, enhancing the effectiveness of psychological treatment. Currently, companies that offer specific service products with DTx as their exploration direction are divided into two major categories: consumer-grade and medical-grade, based on different product application scenarios and market positioning.

Companies offering consumer-grade products, such as Gese Technology, KnowYourself, and Mind Island Diary, primarily target individuals with mild psychological concerns and the general healthy population. By providing self-help or semi-self-help digital solutions to help users improve their emotional well-being and lead more positive, healthy lives, these companies fill the market gap between clinical “treatment” and “self-regulation.”

Companies developing medical-grade products, such as Xinjing Technology, Wangli Technology, and Zheng’an Technology, primarily target severe psychological issues and associated behavioral disorders—such as insomnia and addiction—that significantly impair social functioning. These innovations provide new therapeutic options for clinical practice, addressing the limitations of traditional treatments.

Undoubtedly, digital therapeutics have enhanced the accessibility and effectiveness of mental health services. With significant attention and support from both policy makers and investors, it is only a matter of time before the market is fully ignited, at which point China’s mental health industry will take a major leap forward driven by digital therapeutics.