Depression therapy firm Flow closes Series A investment round

Flow Neuroscience, creator of a medically approved transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) device and behavioural therapy app for depression, has closed its Series A investment round led by Khosla Ventures, CSS group through Swiss Health Ventures and Zühlke Ventures.

The funding will advance its existing depression treatment to be more patient-specific and will accelerate the development of non-pharmaceutical self-managed solutions for other mental health disorders, such as anxiety and accelerate US expansion through clinical trials and FDA approval.

As such, the planned expansion follows Flow’s success in treating patients across the UK and EU for the past two years, with its headset that delivers gentle stimulation using the tDCS technique to combat depression.

The investment round will enable the company to strengthen its offering to the European market, servicing patients in their native language, as well as preparing for US market entry.

Dr Patrick Griss, executive partner at Zühlke, added: “We look for truly disruptive technologies that drive positive change in the world and with Flow we’ve found that. A treatment that addresses the negative side effects seen with antidepressants and that allows autonomy in how patients can treat their health conditions, is something we are passionate to develop further.”

Looking to the future, Flow aims to increase its reach and accessibility to ultimately cure and manage mental health disorders. By providing a digital and remote device, Flow is helping to change scientific research into the effects of tDCS on depression as researchers can recruit more participants and run trials at a much greater pace, without reliance on in-clinic participation. This allows for scalable expansion globally through clinical trial validation and through the development of a similar solution for anxiety.

Michael Rieger, head innovation operations & portfolio at CSS GroupCSS Group said: “Flow offers completely new ways of treating clinical depression by applying a technology that has not been available to the general public until now. CSS is investing in Flow to grant patients access to this therapy approach and thus to close a gap in the healthcare system.”