[World Alliance Forum in San Francisco] Shonan iPark Sponsors Digital Health Pitch Contest: Runner-Up Innsightful Provides Wearable Devices to Manage Mental Health
Last November, iPark sponsored and organized a Healthcare x Digital Pitch Contest as part of the World Alliance Forum in San Francisco (WAFSF). Promising digital health companies were selected for their innovative technologies and potential market impact.
The top two companies—Oncoustics (an AI-based ultrasound provider developing real-time imaging and non-invasive diagnoses) and Innsightful—will benefit from membership at iPark and full support from the iPark team. Below are further details on Innsightful, which won second place.
Innsightful is a wearable device and app that monitors and analyzes the wearer’s physical and mental health in real time. In case there are stress symptoms, it uses AI and pattern matching to find the cause of anxiety. As a “therapist within your hands,” it will also suggest just-in-time solutions based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and other customized therapeutics.
By addressing stress symptoms through the wearable device and app as soon as they occur, Innsightful aims to reduce the negative impact of chronic stress on the user’s body. It also strengthens the user’s mental health, helping them overcome challenges more easily in the long term.
Peaking with iPark about Innsightful’s interest in tapping into the Japanese market, CEO Farzad Ehsani, who has lived and worked in Japan for over 2 years, said: “Innsightful wants to establish relationships with different business sectors, including biopharma, digital medicine, mental health, and even robotics companies in Japan.”
Mr. Ehsani also noted that behavioral and mental health issues are a growing problem throughout the world, including in Japan and the rest of Asia.
Mental health service use in Japan has increased by 30-50% in the past 10-15 years. Alcohol abuse has gone up by 67%, and social withdrawal (hikikomori) by 83%. We believe that our technology can make a difference in addressing some of the root causes of this epidemic, and we welcome the opportunity to work with Japanese entities.”
Mr. Ehsani shared that he was excited to be a part of the Shonan iPark community, and added: ”The potent and collaborative nature of this innovation center is a perfect place for us to grow our company, to learn new ways of doing things, and to develop meaningful relationships in Japan.”
Farzad Ehsani
Demitrios Master
COVID-19 and Digital Health
With the spread of COVID-19, digital transformation in various fields has been accelerating in Japan as well. In the healthcare field, CureApp, which was approved by the Japanese Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare in 2020 as the first digital application for smoking cessation, is a prime example. There are high expectations for the future of “digital health”: the management of health using online medical treatments, app-based treatments, and digital devices.
A report based on a joint survey conducted in 2020 by Rock Health (a San Francisco-based venture fund specializing in digital health) and the Stanford Center for Digital Health at the Stanford University School of Medicine notes: “Consumers more than ever expect technology to be part of their healthcare experience.”
The report also notes*: “In many ways, COVID-19 kicked the digital health ecosystem into high gear—and this extended to consumers increasing their use of digital health solutions. From 2019 to 2020, adoption rates grew significantly—10+ percentage point increases—across live video telemedicine, wearable ownership, and digital health metric tracking.”
About Innsightful
Innsightful offers therapy within your hands by providing constant awareness of anxiety symptoms via its renowned wristband that predicts and detects negative stressful events then offering immediate solutions customized to you via Innsightful App. Innsightful provides real-time & long-term solutions to manage and eventually overcome mental health challenges.