Hamburg-based digital health startup Sympatient has received 7.5 million euros in a Series A financing round. In addition to the main investor Verve Ventures and existing investors, two new business angels from the healthcare sector are involved. The capital will mainly be used to expand the "Digital Anxiety Clinic," a comprehensive digital treatment offering for anxiety disorders.
Around 370 million people worldwide are affected by anxiety disorders every year. This means that anxiety and panic disorders occur more frequently than depression. In Germany, too, anxiety disorders account for the largest proportion of mental illnesses, at more than 15 percent. Despite a high need for treatment, the average waiting time for a therapy place in this country is around five months. Hamburg-based startup Sympatient offers a remedy.
Since 2020, the Invirto program developed by the startup has enabled digital psychotherapy, which can also be conducted from home by virtual reality technology. Panic disorders, agoraphobia or social phobias can thus be treated with digital support. While other providers rely on purely digital solutions, Invirto's treatment is always integrated with psychotherapists or doctors. Since the end of 2020, Invirto can be prescribed by all health insurers if the diagnosis is appropriate.
The startup emerged from a scientific study at Kiel’s Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein and was founded in 2017 by Christian Angern, Julian Angern and Benedikt Reinke. Its main product is Invirto, the world's first gold-standard digital psychotherapy for anxiety disorders for home use. Digital psychotherapy with Invirto is approved as a Digital Health Application (DiGA) and can therefore be prescribed by doctors and psychotherapists. The costs are covered by the statutory health insurance. Funded by the Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the startup won the Hamburg Founders Award in September 2019. Sympatient is among the top 3 of the Deutsche Gründerpreis 2021 and won the German Startup Award 2021 as "Newcomer of the Year". The company currently employs 54 people.
