Suniel Shetty invests in mental health app
- The made-in-India app, Shetty said, will democratize mental health treatment in India and worldwide.
Mumbai: Suniel Shetty, the Bollywood actor and investor with a diverse portfolio across health & wellness, fitness, health-tech, edu-tech, FMCG, and pet care, has invested an undisclosed amount in India’s first and only chain of luxury mental health treatment centres Veda Rehabilitation & Wellness to launch first of its kind mental health app Lets Get Happi.
The company, backed by Asmara Investments, a private equity firm owned by Manun Thakur, has planned an investment of ₹55 crore over the next two years in the app to offer accessible, inclusive mental health support to people and provide a solution to help end the stigma of mental health.
The made-in-India app, Shetty said, will democratize mental health treatment in India and worldwide.
“I have seen the dedication of Manun since he launched Veda and when he came up with the idea to launch an app to make it affordable and accessible to people, my first question to him was how can I help? This app is a significant step in supporting people with mental health tools and online therapy so they can thrive in all aspects of their lives. There is a huge gap in the existing landscape of mental health support and Letsgethappi has a unique blend of inclusivity and provides a safe haven for users to seek anonymous support without the fear of any stigma or judgment. The App is our single-minded commitment to address the blindspot existing in the understanding and acceptance of the social aspects of mental health in India,” Shetty said.
Veda, which launched its first centre in Mumbai in March 2021, has opened two more centres — one each in Bengaluru and New Delhi. It plans to open four more in this fiscal — Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Chennai. However, the centres are super-premium with every four patients at a time and charge around ₹6 lakh per month.
“I have been wanting to offer services to a large part of society, but the kind of offline centres that we have are very costly. So I have been thinking of launching an app, which could offer help to people at a marginal cost. Each session on the app will cost just 500 and it solves issues like accessibility, affordability, and anonymity. We are just trying to make more and more people aware,” Thakur, founder and CEO, Veda Rehabilitation & Wellness, told Mint.
The launch of the app coincides with the increasing discussions surrounding mental health issues in India and worldwide. The app offers access to therapy from a psychologist 24 hours a day along with other features such as meditations (some are even based on House and Electronic Dance Music), journaling, and assessment tests, all in one App.
Thakur added that he also plans to open a total of 24 Veda centres in the country. We have identified that basis on the current level of awareness and purchasing power, we can open centres in 24 cities in the country, and I intend to open in each of these cities,” he added.
He added that so far ₹11.5 crore has been invested in Veda and the app, and while the offline centres are profitable, the app will require investments for promotions as well as content. “We plan to reach out to schools and colleges to spread awareness about the importance of mental health and our app. We are also creating a lot of content, which will need funds. We are currently valued at ₹150 crore and I have not raised any institutional money yet,” he said.
The company soft-launched the app in end-May and has seen 16,000 downloads organically. While the current version has features including therapy through audio, video and chat, journaling, psychological assessment tests, content on various wellness topics by industry experts, mediations from chants of OM to Meditations based on EDM and House Music, Daily Mood Check-In, the next version (by January’24) will come with AI as the first responder, games that improve cognition and memory, more premium content, podcasts and Interactive journaling.
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First Published:2 Aug 2023, 11:02 PM IST
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