The Voda team have raised £270k pre-seed funding to address the mental health crisis that is impacting our community in the UK
BY RAI POWELL
The award-winning mental health app Voda has raised £270k in pre-seed funding to help combat the UK’s LGBTQIA mental health crisis.
Designed to help LGBTQIA people build self-compassion, heal and release shame, the funding will support the app’s offerings to provide inclusive and accessible mental health support for queer people.
The platform, co-designed with seven LGBTQIA psychotherapists who identify across the spectrum of gender, sexuality and ethnicity, currently serves over 12,000 LGBTQIA folks globally, with 4,000 users based in the UK, the largest percentage of its global users.
The app teaches the user evidence-based therapy approaches to self-regulate, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy and mindfulness.
Jaron Soh (he/him), co-founder and CEO of Voda commented: “The LGBTQIA+ community faces significantly higher rates of mental health issues due to systemic discrimination and personal trauma. This disproportionate impact has been widely documented. Yet, the financial inaccessibility of private therapy, combined with the lack of LGBTQIA+ affirming care within the NHS is worsening this mental health crisis, leaving many without the support they need. This needs to change. And the approach must be rooted in empathy, kindness and inclusivity. We started Voda because each of us had faced mental health struggles related to our queer identities and wanted to create a supportive space for others on similar journeys. Our personal experiences of overcoming shame and the lack of access to genuine support have gone on to shape the app for our users. We hope that by placing lived experience at the forefront of our approach, Voda will have more impact and foster deeper understanding and connection with queer folks.”
You can download the app at voda.co.
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