46 Woodstock Road,
Oxford, OX2 6HT
DEC 13, 2022
Oxford, UK – 13 December 2022 – Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) today announces its Health Tech portfolio company OxfordVR, a leader in virtual reality (VR) treatments for serious mental illnesses, is to combine with BehaVR, a leading innovator in VR digital wellness and therapeutic experiences.
Uniting under the BehaVR brand, the combined company will deliver comprehensive VR-based treatments for mental and behavioural health. In conjunction with the combination, OSE is co-leading a new Series B financing round with an initial close of $13 million. Together, the merger and fundraise will accelerate BehaVR’s go-to-market strategy to deliver clinically validated VR-based interventions for mental health, part of a digital therapeutics market expected to exceed $13 billion by 2027.
According to the World Health Organization, roughly one billion people live with a mental health condition globally. At any severity level, conditions such as depression and anxiety impact quality of life, relationships, livelihood and sense of belonging.
OxfordVR was spun out of the University of Oxford in 2016 from the research of Professor Daniel Freeman at the Department of Psychology. OSE has backed OxfordVR since inception, providing funding, strategic and operational support that led to the development of its gameChange product, the world’s first cognitive-behavioural VR therapy for severe mental illness. gameChange was granted Breakthrough Device designation by the US Food and Drug Administration in June 2022
Alexis Zervoglos, Senior Partner (Tech) at OSE, said:
“By combining OxfordVR’s pioneering science with BehaVR’s platform, global access and commercialization capabilities, the new BehaVR can transform how patients with psychiatric and mental health conditions are treated at scale. We are proud to have supported Daniel Freeman and his team at OxfordVR, and we are delighted to continue supporting BehaVR on this important mission in mental healthcare.”
Deepak Gopalakrishna, Chief Executive Officer at OxfordVR, said:
“What an exciting time for digital innovation in mental health. We’re at a critical inflection point in the industry where the onus will be on companies to bring evidence based, clinically validated treatments to patients that providers, payers, and employers can confidently stand behind. This brings together two of the leading organizations pioneering this work and will enable us to accelerate that future.”