MedTech firm Flow has announced the close of a $1.5m (£1.2m) investment round.
The firm claims it has created a treatment for depressions which is the first and only approved treatment its kind in Europe.
Its at-home treatment for depression comprises a portable brain stimulation headset and therapy app and combines clinical psychology, neuroscience and machine learning. It provides its users with expert knowledge from the fields of sleep, nutrition, fitness and meditation.
The new capital will be used to support the Swedish firm’s European rollout as it plans to reach out to healthcare clinics and fund clinical studies.
Launched last month in the UK and Sweden, the results of the firm’s controlled trials have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and British Journal of Psychiatry, suggesting results similar to antidepressants but with fewer and less-severe side effects.
The firm has now begun talks with the NHS to have its brain stimulation headset available on prescription and plans to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory clearance in America.
“We’re increasing treatment choice and empowering people to self-manage their symptoms at home with an effective, personalised and non-pharmacological alternative,” said Daniel Mansson, clinical psychologist and co-founder of Flow.
“This has the potential to improve the standard of care, and reduce global healthcare costs. The Khosla Ventures investment will support the next stage of our journey as we cement our position as European leaders of brain stimulation treatment for depression.”
Alexander Morgan, MD PhD, Principal at Khosla Ventures added: “The technology combines portable hardware and software, and we believe this offers an exciting and scalable solution for potentially hundreds of millions of people living with depression globally, empowering patients directly with new options for treatment.”