The social taboo around mental health and wellness seems to be disappearing in India with large number of people taking help and employers providing mental health and wellness support to their employees.
McKinsey estimates the global wellness market worth more than $1.5 trillion in 2021, with an annual growth of 5 to 10 per cent. Indian mental health and wellness startups have garnered over US$ 28.24 with the decade’s highest investment in 2021. The investment came in just three rounds. The highest investment made earlier in the segment was in 2019 of around US$ 12.36 in 7 rounds of funding.
According to market experts, it’s not bad for a country that ranks 139 out of 149 countries in the Happiness Index. Anxiety disorders in adults have increased from 11.0% in Jan-Jun, 2019 (NHIS) to 41.1% in January 2021 (Household Pulse Survey). They predict that the growth in segment is fuelled by corporates hiring mental and wellness startups for their employees to shun the stigma and get help whenever they required. The Human Resource department are even employing special budgets for the segment since last year.
For 2021, employers are investing most in mental health (88%), telemedicine (87%), stress management/resilience (81%), mindfulness and meditation (69%), and COVID-19 risk intake/wellness passport (63%) programs. With three out of five rising stars closely linked to mental health, it is clear that companies are extremely focused on and dedicated to supporting mental well-being. These programs have been growing in popularity in recent years, and the unique challenges created by Covid-19 have only accelerated the demand for mental health solutions.
One of the investors on condition of anonymity said, “Technology has turned out to be a boon. You don’t have to leave your place of comfort (home) and can access all the health for your mental wellbeing either through website or mobile apps. Moreover, startups are offering different kind of options like talking, texting which is helping people to break their inner inhibitions and dole out their emotions.” He adds, the rising anxiety and pressures due to new normal are making these startups as the most promising bet.
However, Kanika Agarwal founder of Startup Mindpeers says, “I am going to play devil's advocate here. The truth is investors in India are still not convinced of the scalability of mental health startups. The businesses who have been in the mental health space for the last 5-6 years were not able to scale because they were traditional businesses. They had therapy as their foundation and therapy alone doesn't scale because of high stigma, you don't have enough mental health professionals and things like that. Now, there is a scope of new models that are coming in and investors are exploring more. But it still is a very nascent industry. Investors are trying to learn a lot about it. There is a lot of knowledge that they are trying to gain from mental health tech founders.”
