One of the major challenges that has plagued mental health healthcare, is that of subjectivity. This was the impetus for the development of Mobio Interactive’s innovative technology designed to deliver "precision psychiatry at scale" for patients around the world.
“The future of mental health is data-driven. Just as doctors wouldn’t prescribe heart medication without measuring blood pressure, mental health care must embrace objective data. Mental health problems are the greatest burdens of our time. The solution isn’t just more therapists—it’s smarter, more objective tools that scale.” – Dr Bechara Saab, CEO & Chief Scientist of Mobio Interactive, a neuroscientist by training.
Founded in 2015, Mobio has meticulously built a strong body of clinical evidence, conducting more than 20 studies and prioritizing evidence-based approaches as a differentiator in a saturated market.
“Balancing technical development, clinical validation and business growth, while unlocking the benefit of such innovation for those that need it most is no easy task and exactly the kind of bold vision the Impact Ventures team is excited to support with our investment.” – Dana Deardorff, Global Head, Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation.
Using just a phone camera, Mobio measures the expansion and contraction of blood vessels through color changes in the faces of patients (a technique known as remote photoplethysmography rPPG), eliminating the need for a wearable and making it more accessible.
With this approach, Mobio’s AI-native platform turns a 30-second selfie into a quantification of psychological stress, giving clinicians real-time insights into the mental (and even physical) health of their patients. Their dataset has amassed >425k selfie scans with 3.5M unique and useful datapoints—and continues to grow.
While the opportunity for such innovation is high, as a public benefit company, the Mobio team has long been committed to addressing the paradoxical nature of mental healthcare where those that need it most are least able to access it. Such ambitions have drawn support from previous impact-driven investors, including Verge HealthTech, Australian Medical Angels and Blue Ash Ventures.
In January 2025, Mobio launched work in Southwestern India to localize their technologies in the State of Karnataka. To support these efforts, Johnson & Johnson has also provided an educational grant to help quantify the impact of current mental health support and train community heath workers on digital tools in Karnataka.
“We recognize the power of data driven insights combined with enabling digital literacy to unlock the full potential of Mobio's technology. We look forward to supporting Mobio in bolstering their extensive evidence base and bringing their solutions to more patients around the world.” – Sarah Mullane, Director, Health Technology, Global Health Equity at Johnson & Johnson
Alongside its work with J&J, Mobio is already addressing critical waitlist challenges with Singapore’s General Hospital and Institute for Mental Health and Canadian’s Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Mobio has ambitious plans for its latest funding round to embed affordable technology solutions in local hospitals, telehealth networks, and government systems globally. Efforts will now focus on expanding their research pipeline across mental health conditions and chronic-illness comorbidities while pursuing regulatory approval.