An NHS-backed mental health fund has picked 19 startups for its second cohort, with each eligible to pitch for up to £1m.
The Innovations in Mental Health (IMH) Fund’s 12-week immersion programme will focus on companies developing solutions for depression, anxiety and psychosis-related disorders. The fund also announced its first investment in Affiniti AI, which provides an AI platform that assists therapists with patient homework and progress monitoring.
The announcement comes as mental health conditions drive nearly five times higher rates of economic inactivity among young people, costing the UK economy up to £150bn annually according to Sir Charlie Mayfield’s Keep Britain Working report. Research shows one in five teenagers now use unregulated AI tools like ChatGPT for mental health support, with documented cases of dangerous guidance leading to self-harm and suicide.
Affiniti AI’s platform operates with “human-in-the-loop” functionality, meaning therapists maintain clinical oversight while the AI handles administrative tasks and patient monitoring between sessions.
The cohort includes companies developing AI-enabled platforms for personalised treatment in severe mental illness, digital therapeutics for anxiety and depression, and tools supporting adolescent mental health. Participating startups include Juniver, Rewire, Orli, Meomics, Ovrcome, Soihtu, Jaaq, Fora Health, Careloop, Assembly, Univa, Embers the Dragon, Kyomei, Cerebella, Psyomics, ReMind, Deliberate AI, Anathem and Hologen AI.
Cohort member JAAQ provides what it describes as a mental health “front door” for organisations, offering content, conversational AI and pathways to care for employees, customers or members.
The programme provides startups with access to testing environments and collaboration opportunities with mental health care providers. Participants work with clinicians, researchers and operators to build evidence, safety protocols and commercial readiness for NHS adoption.
The IMH Fund is delivered by Meridian Health Ventures in partnership with the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM). Wellcome Trust serves as the anchor investor in the fund, which describes itself as the UK’s only NHS-backed mental health venture fund.
The launch followed London Life Sciences Week, where over 100 groups discussed the shift from “analogue to digital” healthcare, a core element of the Government’s ten-year NHS plan. Discussions focused on integrating data from hospitals, GPs and other providers to create what organisers called the richest AI training environment globally.
Dr Pooja Sikka, general partner at Meridian Health Partners, said: “Daniel (Managing Partner of MHV) and I think it’s straightforward – our fund, strategic partnerships and our deep sense of how the system operates is catalytic for new innovations in Mental Health, both here at home in the UK and across the globe. We want the UK to benefit from the immense amount of excellence in clinical grade products and R&D. However, we know that many of these companies which impact people in the UK, will go on to establish and scale elsewhere as well.
“As a clinician, I feel the urgency – that we have no choice but to bring technology right to the forefront of how services are delivered, whether it’s safe patient-facing solutions or backend access to clinical academic expertise coupled with data to get the AI applications just right.
“In addition, helping people to live their lives with purpose, and for many patients that does mean having secure and meaningful employment (perhaps adjusted to their needs), is a way to bring our economy back to a positive and hopeful future and has to involve employers and those with a stake in building Britain’s economy. This is not just healthcare’s problem – it’s a societal mandate.”
