Mindset Health raises US$12m to expand digital hypnotherapy apps & scale distribution

Growth to be supported with new talent attracted to a tech company helping people in need

MELBOURNE,Australia,March 21,2023 -- Mindset Health,the digital hypnotherapy company,today announced it has raised US$12 (A$17.8) million in an oversubscribed Series A financing led by King River Capital,the leading US,Australian VC investor,with investments from Tatterang's Tenmile,Yard Ventures,Matt Mullenweg (founder of Automattic,Wordpress),John Kim (founder of SendBird),Alex and Anthony Zaccaria/Nick Humphreys (Linktree founders),Sandy Kory,Banana Capital and others

Image showing Mindset Health digital hypnotherapy apps addressing medically-diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome,menopause and smoking cessation.

Mindset Health helps people with chronic conditions learn to manage their health via app-based audio,combining the expertise of world-class health specialists and clinical research with a proprietary scalable technology platform to deliver evidence-based,consumer-friendly digital hypnotherapy. The apps help people manage a range of health conditions anytime,anywhere.

Mindset Health's top three markets by users are the US (38%),Australia (19%),and United Kingdom (15%).

Funding from this latest round will support the continued growth and development of Mindset Health's digital hypnotherapy apps,including broadening channels-to-market to support increasing global demand; and launching new apps in response to market demand forconditions including anxiety and depression,sleep and chronic pain.

Importantly,the funding will allow Mindset Health to continue its clinical and real-world research[i] programs,partnering with institutions like Baylor Universityand Monash Universityin Australia,to further progress health and economic outcome evidence generation,as well as enhancing existing hypnotherapy programs with additional features and personalisation.

Mindset Health currently has three hypnotherapy apps,addressing medically-diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome,menopause and smoking cessation.

Commenting on the Series A financing,Co-Founder Alex Naoumidis said:

"The global demand for our hypnotherapy programs – driven by healthcare practitioners,who recognise their effectiveness in supporting patients and recommend their use – has proven our thesis and demonstrated the deep market appetite for easy to use solutions that can help people manage and live well with underserved health conditions.

"This latest financing will support us to continue to meet that demand and in new areas with a broader product offering,as well as funding additional research programs instrumental to producing high-quality digital programs backed by clinical rigour.

"Our brains can influence our immune system,our heart health,our habits and our pain perception - our mission is to help unlock this potential of the mind to change how we think,feel and act."

Referrals from doctors,dietitians and other providers are largely organic via word of mouth but are already driving significant growth,with this expected to continue building over the next 12 months and beyond.

Not only do healthcare providers act as a scaling growth channel,retrospective studies[ii] show that users who are referred by a healthcare practitioner are significantly more likely to adhere to the program long-term.

Hundreds of controlled studies have shown hypnosis-based therapy to be effective in helping to manage many chronic health conditions with results that other options have been unable to achieve. This includes managing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms by 60%[iii][iv]; aiding smoking cessation two times more effectively than nicotine replacement[v],managing menopausal hot flushes[vi] and providing chronic pain relief[vii]. As well as being effective,hypnosis eschews the side effects that can occur with approaches such as opioids and nicotine.

Chris Barter,Co-founder and Partner of King River Capital,said:

"By automating hypnosis-based therapies,Mindset Health is utilising the very qualities that have made traditional approaches so successful – efficient scalability,on-demand availability,and clinical rigour – without the side effects,or the billion-dollar R&D price tag.

"It's a total gamechanger in the way it's helping people around the world take control of their health and successfully address a range of chronic conditions naturally and holistically."

Mindset Health is also looking to significantly scale up its team,with requirements across all aspects of the business,from software engineering to healthcare sales. Chris Naoumidis said:

"An essential part of our growth is the attracting the right talent. We think we have an unfair advantage as people recognise that not only do we provide all the benefits of working in a growing tech company but we're also creating products that are making a real difference to people's lives. Making a difference is important to us as a collective and we're keen to encourage more like-minded people to join Mindset Health. That ethos permeates everything we do."

Tenmile executive chairman Steve Burnell said Tenmile was impressed by Mindset's growth over the past 12 months.

"Mindset's focus on evidence generation,user experience,and patient outcomes has driven significant organic referral volume and strong user retention,making them the partner of choice for healthcare providers and patients globally," Dr Burnell said.

[i]Peters,S.L.,Gibson,P.R. and Halmos,E.P. (2023) "Smartphone app–delivered gut–directed hypnotherapy improves symptoms of self–reported irritable bowel syndrome: A retrospective evaluation," Neurogastroenterology & Motility [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/nmo.14533.

[ii]Internal data

[iii]Lee,H.H.,Choi,Y.Y. and Choi,M.-G. (2014) "The efficacy of hypnotherapy in the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis," Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility,20(2),pp. 152–162. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5056/jnm.2014.20.2.152.

[iv]Peters,S.L. et al. (2016) "Randomised clinical trial: The efficacy of gut-directed hypnotherapy is similar to that of the low fodmap diet for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome," Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics,44(5),pp. 447–459. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.13706.

[v]Hasan,F.M. et al. (2014) "Hypnotherapy is more effective than nicotine replacement therapy for Smoking Cessation: Results of a randomized controlled trial," Complementary Therapies in Medicine,22(1),pp. 1–8. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2013.12.012.

[vi]Elkins,G.R. et al. (2013) "Clinical hypnosis in the treatment of postmenopausal hot flashes: a randomized controlled trial," Menopause,20(3),pp. 291–298. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1097/gme.0b013e31826ce3ed.

[vii]Thompson,T. et al. (2019) "The effectiveness of hypnosis for pain relief: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 85 controlled experimental trials," Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews,99,pp. 298–310. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.02.013.