What You Should Know:
– Aiberry (pronounced “I” + “berry”), an AI-powered mental health screening pioneer today announced that it has secured $8M in seed funding led by Confluence Capital Group, Inc. (CCG) with participation from the VC fund Ascension AI. This brings total funding to $10M
– The company plans to use the latest round of funding to accelerate the adoption of the Aiberry platform, which uses an AI-powered therapeutic assistant to conduct a conversation to detect mental health disorders by analyzing what is being said, the speech patterns being used and even subtle changes in facial expressions.
AI-Powered Mental Health Screening for Healthcare Providers
Mental health issues are widespread and growing rapidly. The World Health Organization estimated in 2019 that 280 million people in the world have depression (1), while the National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS) estimated in 2021 that 11.7% of the adult population in the U.S. regularly had feelings of worry, nervousness, or anxiety (2). The need for rapid, easily administered, effective diagnosis has never been greater.
Aiberry’s platform enables screenings in a wide range of settings, from doctors’ offices to schools, workplaces, or even homes. Its AI-powered therapeutic assistant has a gentle voice and inviting manner that makes users feel at ease and it is available at any time of day or night. At the end of each screening, users and clinicians are provided with a risk level score for mental health disorders including suicidal ideation, in addition to screening insights including mood, concentration and energy levels. Aiberry is based on decades of research by Dr. Newton Howard, a leading brain and cognitive scientist and a professor at Georgetown University and Oxford University, who is also a co-founder and the Chief Scientist at Aiberry.
Clinicians, corporate wellness providers and other mental health professionals exploring options including telehealth, text-based therapy and on-demand content often assess them based on user numbers, which do not provide a clear indication of their impact. Aiberry’s platform offers quantifiable and objective outcomes, tracked over time, that can provide a more reliable measure of success. This allows organizations to easily determine which mental health resource is the best investment for their specific needs and goals.
“Early identification and prevention have long been a challenge when it comes to mental health in the U.S.,” said Aiberry co-CEO Linda Chung. “While many platforms have been developed to provide services ranging from preventative care to self-care and even clinical care, the intake process and progress monitoring has failed to advance. Aiberry is an ideal partner for existing digital health platforms and corporate wellness programs, especially in an era where people are becoming increasingly knowledgeable and proactive when it comes to their mental health and wellness.”
