Cambridge spinout Psyomics secures £1.5 million to transform mental health diagnosis in the UK

Psyomics, a UK-based healthtech startup and University of Cambridge spinout, has closed a £1.5 million funding round to bring its mental health assessment and diagnosis platform, Censeo, to market in the UK. University spinout specialists Parkwalk led the round, joined by Jonathan Milner, Martlet and Cambridge Enterprise.

Built on 20 years of clinical research, Censeo mirrors the rich process of a face-to-face psychiatric assessment, guiding a patient through a series of adaptive questions. Algorithms perform a detailed and bespoke analysis, creating a ‘map’ of an individual’s mental health, providing diagnosis where appropriate (and possible). The idea is that GPs and clinicians can try to provide the right level of support at the outset, while patients have a less confrontational start to addressing their mental health concerns. Ultimately, proper care is delivered earlier and strain on the healthcare system is relieved.

“Diagnosing mental health issues correctly in primary care can be difficult, due to time constraints and the fact that mental health conditions can be masked by physical symptoms. Delays in diagnosing—or misdiagnosis—mean that it can take several years for an individual with depression to be correctly diagnosed. For bi-polar disorder the average delay is six to eight years,” says co-founder and Chief Medical Officer Prof. Sabine Bahn. Ready to hit the market, Censeo has been developed as a medical device, fully compliant with the Medical Device Directive 93/42 EEC, ISO 13485 and NHS Toolkit. Previous funding has come from Cambridge Enterprise, Innovate UK, Parkwalk and the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme.