Cambridge, UK – 21 June 2022 – UK-based healthtech company Psyomics has closed a £2.4m funding round as they continue to expand access to their online mental health assessment platform to individual users and NHS trusts. The financing was led by Parkwalk, the UK’s most active investor in the university spin-out sector. Meltwind and other investors also participated, along with new investment from Newable Ventures.

Psyomics was spun-out from the University of Cambridge with a mission to develop technology to support earlier and improved mental health diagnosis and treatment management. With significant pressure on the NHS and other resources in recent years, there’s been a greater need for solutions when it comes to mental health, to ensure that people get the support they need, when they need it.

Built by psychiatrists and psychologists, its mental health assessment platform Censeo mirrors the rich process of a comprehensive face-to-face assessment, in a digital form. Users are guided through a series of adaptive questions to build a detailed picture of their mental health symptoms and concerns. A report that is composed of potential conditions and next step recommendations is then generated, providing patients a stigma-free way to begin addressing any concerns.

When used within a healthcare setting, the platform supports clinicians (whether they are psychiatrists or not) with more efficient decision making, helping them to establish the right care pathway and level of support more quickly. A pilot within GP practices was conducted last year, with positive feedback received from both GPs and patients. Following this, access to Censeo was opened up to individual users for the first time earlier this year and new projects within NHS treatment providers are starting.

Stephanie Martlew, CEO of Psyomics, says:

“The continued support from Parkwalk, Meltwind and BGF alongside new investment from Newable Ventures enables us to expand the reach of Censeo, helping more people who are struggling to find the right support for their mental health needs. We’re excited to grow our team, expand further across the NHS and demonstrate with our partners that our technology can make a substantial difference in the accuracy, consistency and efficiency of mental health assessments in a wide range of clinical settings.”

Martin Glen, Investment Director at Parkwalk, commented:

“Recent years have shown how important digital health solutions are across the board to help confront the growing challenges facing the healthcare system. Psyomics’ clinical and tech-led assessment tool will help to transform the way mental health is diagnosed and the expansion of their platform within the NHS and to individual patients is a testament to their success. We’re proud to have been working with their team from the early-stages and look forward to seeing Psyomics continue to develop their platform and grow in the years to come.”

ENDS

About Psyomics

Psyomics is developing unique technology to radically improve the way mental health conditions are assessed and triaged. Drawing on both psychiatric and psychological expertise, our digital diagnostic tools provide every patient access to a complete mental health review up front. Drawing on twenty years of deep psychiatric and psychological expertise, as well as a significant clinical trial, its digital diagnostic support platform Censeo mirrors the rich process of a human psychiatric assessment. The sophisticated algorithms guide the patient through a selected series of adaptive questions, from a bank of 1,400 questions, to build a holistic view of an individual’s whole mental health, providing an indication of diagnosis where appropriate and enabling a clear treatment pathway.

Psyomics was co-founded by Professor Sabine Bahn, head of the Cambridge Centre for Neuropsychiatric Research (CCNR) and Daniel Cowell, former COO of Horizon Discovery, with the goal of improving diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders.

About Parkwalk

Parkwalk is the largest growth EIS fund manager, backing world-changing technologies emerging from the UK’s leading universities and research institutions. With £400m of assets under management, it has invested in over 150 companies across its Parkwalk Opportunities and Knowledge Intensive EIS Funds, as well as the award-winning enterprise and innovation funds Parkwalk manages for the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol and Imperial College.

Parkwalk invests in businesses creating solutions to real-world challenges, with IP-protected innovations, across a range of sectors including life sciences, AI, quantum computing, advanced materials, genomics, cleantech, future of mobility, medtech and big data.