Interview with Ritvik Singh, co-founder and CEO of PsyInnovations

Ritvik Singh

Our latest interviewee is PsyInnovations‘ co-founder and CEO – Ritvik Singh. He wasn’t always a “tech guy” though, having spent the last decade as a trader and manager on Wall Street. Ritvik had also launched a medication adherence service for over 5000 patients in India, and developed a Mindfulness based app for research at University of Michigan. He is passionate about making healthcare accessible globally, and with that in mind brought the team of psychologists, researchers and technology experts to create PsyInnovations. Here’s how he answered our questions…

How would you pitch your company? What’s your elevator pitch?

PsyInnovations is brining mental healthcare to your fingertips. Our highly customized, evidence-based therapy sessions help users with life issues such as anxiety and stress, making day-to-day living better.

What sets you apart from competitors?

wayForward, our mobile based platform, has data based customization for users to provide effective but reasonably priced therapy. Founded by a psychologist, and guided by eminent researchers and practitioners in the field – we have a strong core group essential for a mental health startup.

What’s your business model?

We’re a SaaS business – our revenue comes from patients/consumers on a subscription basis for the sessions through the wayForward app.

Can you share some numbers? How many users do you have?

We are currently in limited beta rolling out the product to a growing wait list of a few hundred users.

Where do you see the company going from here?

PsyInnovationsWe plan to open wayForward app to users in next few weeks. The initial sessions are focused on anxiety, specifically in social situations such as presentations, interviews, social gatherings or dating. The therapy sessions are based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

We see wayForward expanding to other mental disorders that have debilitating effect on people’s everyday life. Our aim is to make mental healthcare a priority and we want to increase awareness about lack of adequate care, and how it impacts individuals as well as society.

Where do you see the mHealth industry going?

I am very bullish about the mHealth industry, and believe that creative solutions will help fill the gaps in the current system in both physical health and mental health. This will have a multibillion dollar positive impact on economies globally.

How long are we from seeing modern mHealth technologies going mainstream?

I think we are already on our way with more health related IPO’s, and by 2020 mHealth would be completely mainstream.