INSIGHTS AND RESEARCH
Following World Mental Health Day on October 102022 and the many negative events currently ongoing in the world we, at Integra, seek to improve ten million lives in the coming years, and often improving lives means improving mental health first. it is vital to look at investment into mental health services, and why they are crucial to all demographics.
The World Health Organisation issued alarming statistics in 2020 on the effect of the pandemic on mental health – it estimated that globally, 284 million were suffering from severe anxiety and a further 265 million from depression. Unfortunately, this health sector still remains significantly underinvested in, with only 2% of government health budgets currently being distributed to the provision of mental health and wellbeing services. In recent decades mental health has been quite a topic of discussion and research amongst academia, with some studies showing a clear correlation between poor mental health leading to lesser physical health, i.e., anxiety, depression and stress actively change the brain’s functionality and can actually reduce the performance of neurons and alter certain neurological pathways, in other words, poor mental health damages us.
Although mental health as an area of medicine has become more institutionalised and accepted, there is still a great stigma surrounding it, whether that stigma be self-inflicted, social, or structural. “47 percent of respondents (<30 years old) report high levels of distress due to global climate change, 41 percent to the war in Ukraine, and 28 percent to COVID-19.” (McKinsey) Contrary to mental health being declared a “national emergency” during COVID-19 in many developed countries these efforts are not consolidated in practice – the biggest killer of those under 29 years of age remains suicide, and the figures continue to augment rather than subside.
We believe strongly that private investment into making mental health care and services accessible is vital and as an area of Venture Capital quite often simply overlooked (LPs or established managers tend to perceive mental health as somewhat ‘unprofitable’ or as something that is ‘of the past’ since an enormous number of mental health support companies do already exist). The truth is, always, that quantity does not equal quality and founders aiming to tackle specific mental health service gaps, from grief, to anxiety, to isolation and all things in-between, are a worthwhile investment. The median millennial, baby-boomer, Gen X and Gen Z will, on average, experience severe mental health issues at more than 3 points in their lifetime, so, to disregard this microtrend as solely “Gen Z relevant” is inadequate, moreover it is dangerous.
Stresses of daily life are augmented by the instability of the world; ongoing wars, political tensions, cost of living crises and climate change are all very real triggers. The world is facing a downwards slope in terms of mental wellbeing and health in all generations. Now is a time to invest in companies disrupting and permanently changing this trajectory – access to new mental health services and resources are needed today like never before.
In developing economies, it is more common to see illnesses which were previously considered “private” or “shameful” to be overlooked within the wider healthcare systems and to be disproportionately underfunded by government aid. Unfortunately, mental health falls into this category time and time again. It is, nonetheless, crucial to ensure mental health services are officially considered primary care across the world, however, many countries still have a way to go before reaching this important milestone.
In recent years the mental health sector has seen an incredibly high increase in research and official statistics, largely owing to the initiatives of the World Health Organisation. If one was to generalise the prevalence of mental health disorders and their effect on communities as well as individuals, the generalisation would be to call this an epidemic on the rise. This is however vastly inaccurate – mental health issues have merely become a more commonly accepted topic of conversation and research hence we see what appears to be a large incline in the number of people affected by mental health issues and illnesses, say, compared to the late 20th Century. To summate, more people are not “getting sick”, rather they are coming forward to seek help. In 2018 for example “an estimated 47.6 million adults aged 18 or older (19.1 percent) had any mental illness (AMI)” in the US alone (Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health). The numbers are alarming and yet little extra funding has been issued by governments, thus it is time for market leaders to take the stage.
While it is controversial to call healthcare a “market” or a “trend” it does not render the statement any less true – until all healthcare is universally free and readily available to all someone is making a profit. So, as the markets themselves beseech investors to cover the existing gap – mental health care and service provision, at Integra Groupe we are doing just that. Public Health Review concludes the following: “almost all Latin American countries still invest far less in public mental health than in other public health problems with comparable disease burden. Moreover, a large part of public mental health resources are still used to maintain a system of mental hospitals that do not offer appropriate treatment.” How do we disrupt these normatives and failing institutions? By investing in world-class early-stage companies who are truly changing the mental health field: Papa, Almaya, Cuéntame and Oye.
Cuéntame is a B2B mental wellbeing start-up which is empowering companies to lead the future of employment culture by providing personalized mental health solutions to each employee. Why is this a worthwhile investment? One of the key daily life stresses amongst those of working age is, as one may have already guessed, work. Providing active mental support and help to employees not only increases their productivity and ability to work, it is also essential part of healthcare one which the majority of labour is not granted.
Papa is one of our Integra Growth strategy companies that focuses on elderly care. Unfortunately, there is an overwhelming amount of empirical evidence demonstrating the negative effects of social deprivation on mental and physical health, and it is a circumstance in which many seniors live daily. With an aging population demographic mental health services also need to be focused on the elder generations, not only the young. Loneliness is a leading contributor to poor mental health and severe depression and Papa is solving this huge pain point through their Papa Pals system.
Almaya eradicates a separate mental health pain point and trauma trigger – grief and bereavement. It has been scientifically confirmed that the loss of a loved one can affect mental health to the point of physical malady, and unfortunately prior to Almaya there was nothing to provide emotional insurance. Almaya uses top-end deepfake and AI technology to generate a ‘digital-self’ who can converse, listen, and appear in real time through their app as if the person was truly before you.
Oye recognises that the journey to better future has to start from within – ourselves. Change the exterior world by taking control of the interior. With its creative and bilingual mental health wellness app OYE is helping the world feel emotionally stronger by introducing valuable wellness practices, ranging from the individual, unusual and experimental to the mainstream and standard such as meditation. Mario Chamorro, JBalvin and Patrick Dowd have entered into this mission together by connecting their personal experiences, aspirations and knowledge with the purpose of breaking the cultural stigma around mental health in Latin America and facilitating access mental wellness services for all in need.
October 14, 2022
Potential for venture returns while changing the world.
