Sentio, a San Francisco, CA-based healthcare company developing biomarkers and digital therapeutics for mental health, raised $4.5 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by Felicis Ventures, with participation from Anthemis Exponential Ventures, and SOSV. Sentio Solutions is an IoT/WT Innovation World Cup® Semi-Finalist. The company took part in the 34th Edition of the WT | Wearable Technologies Conference in San Francisco and proudly won the “Top Public Award”.

Sentio combines its proprietary emotion sensing technology with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to bring a data-driven approach to the field of mental health for the very first time, while providing real-time interventions and care to those in need of emotional and mental health support. The latest investment, which brings the total raised to date to $6.3 million, will enable Sentio to expand access to its Feel program through partnerships with health plans, life insurance providers, employers, and health systems, said a press release.

"For decades, healthcare providers have been able to use objective data to measure and track all types of physical disorders, yet there has been no such solution for mental health to improve clinical effectiveness. Historically, mental healthcare is only provided at the therapist's office during periodic check-ins and has relied on patient questionnaires," said George Eleftheriou, co-founder and CEO of Sentio. "We envision a world where technology understands when someone is going through a depressive phase or panic attack, and provides support in their time of need so no one has to suffer alone ever again."

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Feel helps health plans and employers improve the emotional health of their members and employees, while significantly reducing the cost of medical expenses and productivity losses due to mental health. Because Feel constantly monitors a person's emotional state, it is able to detect emotional changes and deploy on-time interventions faster than any other solution available.

The Feel program includes:

• Feel Emotion Sensor — A wristband with integrated biosensors that continuously monitors a variety of physiological signals to understand the wearer's emotional state and patterns over time
• Feel App — A smartphone app that connects to the wristband to provide real-time support and evidence-based interventions (i.e. mood journaling, breathing exercises)
• Licensed Feel Therapist — Weekly, 15-minute remote data-driven sessions with a designated licensed therapist with expertise in CBT
• Online Educational Program — Online educational tools and classes that help build resilience and positive long-term emotional habits

Feel was founded in 2015 by Eleftheriou and CTO Haris Tsirmpas to eliminate suffering from mental health disorders through the use of objective data and on-time interventions. Both founders have battled with mental health issues, and built Feel based on their own experiences and shared technical expertise.

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