Psyomics, a mental healthtech spin-out from Cambridge University, has closed a funding round of £1.5million to bring their mental health assessment and diagnosis platform, Censeo, to market in the UK.

Built on 20 years of clinical research and psychological experience, Censeo has been developed to mirror the face-to-face psychiatric assessment process, utilising smart algorithms to guide users through adaptive questions and create a ‘map’ of their mental health, supporting patients towards appropriate treatment pathways.

Censeo has been developed as a medical device fully compliant with the NHS Toolkit and provides a stigma-free way for patients to start addressing mental health concerns.

WHY IT MATTERS

“Delays in diagnosing—or misdiagnosis—mean that it can take several years for an individual with depression to be correctly diagnosed. For bi-polar disorder the average delay is six to eight years,” says Psyomics co-founder and chief medical officer Sabine Bahn. “The consequence of this is that many people suffer unnecessarily from debilitating symptoms that could be successfully treated.”

By accelerating the process of correct diagnosis, Censeo will help patients get appropriate treatment for their conditions earlier, improving their quality of life. It will also relieve increasing pressure on the NHS mental health services, where as many as 30% of GP appointments relate to mental health, many of which cannot be treated clinically. By triaging users appropriately, Censeo increases efficiency across the healthcare system, enabling GPs to focus on patients they are able to help. 

THE LARGER CONTEXT

In response to the pandemic, there has been an increase in reportage of mental health issues. This has led to higher demand for virtual mental health care and healthtech has significantly changed mental health services, with tech from VR to telehealth stepping in to alleviate pressure from overburdened healthcare systems.

ON THE RECORD

Psyomics CEO and co-founder Dan Cowell comments: “This funding will enable Psyomics to support the UK’s plans to improve mental health provisions for the nation. Through giving patients, clinicians, and caregivers an earlier and clearer understanding of individual mental health needs, we believe we can make significant improvements in patient experience and clinical capacity, with positive impacts throughout the entire healthcare system. Our investors share our belief in the opportunity to make a genuine impact with Censeo.”

Tom Hall, senior investment manager at Martlet Capital, says: “We’re pleased to again be supporting Psyomics as the company now commercialises Censeo, its mental health diagnostics solution, at a time when mental health and wellbeing is one of society’s most prevalent themes and pressing matters. Censeo’s digital triage and assessment tools enable earlier, accurate and actionable diagnosis of mental health disorders and personalised pathways to the right support. Bringing this product to market can bring real benefit to both clinicians and patients through shorter time to diagnosis and better outcomes.”