Juno Clinic, part of Davman Technology Services, an online and offline start-up focused on mental health counseling and treatment, has raised Rs.8 crore from well-known serial entrepreneur Atul Nishar, founder of Hexaware Technologies & Aptech Computers along with the family office of Sunita and Neeraj Bhargava, Founder, Zodius Capital, Vikas Khemani, president & CEO, Edelweiss Securities and other individual investors as a part of a Pre-Series A fund raising round.
According to recent estimates by The Lancet Study, in India only 1 in 10 people with mental health disorders receives evidence-based treatment. The biggest challenge that stops people from seeking professional help for issues such as depression, anxiety or relationship conflicts is the social stigma attached with seeking help from professionals. Further, there is a dearth of trained professionals in India as most psychiatrists and psychologists operate only in the top metros. Understanding the need gap, the company launched its online counseling clinic: www.juno.clinic in January 2016, that allows counseling through online video connection, phone or chat, and has also started offline counseling clinics in Mumbai, with the first two clinics set up in Khar and Powai.
Juno Clinic, which started as a brain child of Davesh Manocha, Anuraag Srivastava, Arun Kumar and a renowned psychiatrist Dr. Vishal Sawant in Jan 2016, operates on a unique model that provides online (video/telephonic/chat) counseling as well as in-person counseling out of their clinics in Mumbai. The company is not an aggregator for service providers but hires senior psychologists and psychiatrists full time, all of whom adhere strictly to American psychiatry protocols. The company currently has a medical team of 35.
Speaking on the funding, Manocha said that the company will use the funding proceeds to expand into both domestic and international markets online, increase the physical footprint within India and launch new B2B based products offerings that will ensure comprehensive solutions to all mental health problems.”
“We believe that only through the full-stack model, where we employ our medical team can ensure quality clinical services promise to our customers. We have a medical team, which gets further training on important aspects of online counselling”, Srivastava.
Online counseling holds a lot of promise, as it overcomes the barriers that usually prevent people from seeking treatment, such as social taboo, lack of access to quality therapists and hectic schedules. Further, the anonymity and comfort of not being seen by anyone makes it a compelling proposition for those who want counseling but are unable to get that, said the company.