London’s NHS-commissioned mental health startup Hello Tomo acquired by ICAS

London-based mental health startup Hello Tomo has been acquired by crosstown friend ICAS. Through the acquisition, ICAS will gain access to some 80,000+ mental health coaching and therapy professionals, as well as access to Hello Tomo’s technology and employee skillsets. Co-founder and CEO Gus Booth-Clibborn will stay on as newly appointed Head of Digital Transformation at ICAS.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Founded in early 2016 by Fahad Al Saud and Gus Booth-Clibborn, Hello Tomo is an NHS-commissioned mental health startup that specialises in the usage of behavioural activation therapy, a third-generation therapy based on the widely accepted cognitive behavioural therapy methodology.

In 2017 the startup won a Solve Brain Health Fellowship at Massachusetts prestigious MIT, and in 2019 caught the attention of ICAS International (who were acquired by AXA PPP Healthcare in 2007) through a win of an AXA Health Tech & You award.

As no one could have predicted, but the writing on the wall is as clear as day, some of the winners of the past 14 months have been businesses with a focus on mental health. Hello Tomo saw their user base grow by 1,700% in just the past year, with 20,000 active users now engaging with the service.

ICAS notes that the acquisition of Hello Tomo is just the first step in the goal of tapping into a global market valued at $121 Billion.

“There is a huge need to leverage smart technology to solve these big global health challenges. ICAS is working with ambitious, entrepreneurial teams that want to grow their technology products as part of the ICAS ecosystem,” comments ICAS CEO Andrew Davies. “Hello Tomo and its founding team is the first in a series of strategic acquisitions as we continue to drive forward our digital transformation.”