[YS Exclusive] Mental health startup Now&Me raises $1M led by Saama and Whiteboard Capital

Delhi-based mental health startup Now&Me has raised $1 million seed funding led by Saama Capital and Whiteboard Capital.

The startup is working on how people seek mental health support globally, through a free-to-use community platform. The funding will be used for team expansion, product development, and focussing on community-building efforts.

Founded in 2019 by Bani Singh and Drishti Gupta, Now&Me was first conceptualised by Bani, who built the prototype of the product. In 2020, Nitesh Kumar Niranjan joined in as the tech co-founder. In a press statement shared by the company, the founders collectively said:

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"Mental health concerns affect almost 1 billion people globally. Tackling a problem as colossal as that required us to go where no one had ever even thought of going before. In fact, Now&Me has, and continues to be an instrumental solution to the rising mental health concerns, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic."

The startup works as a support network, where people can come and discuss their concerns without any fear of judgement. The statement added the platform acts as a safe space for users to even take their first step towards accepting their feelings and talking about them. 

Anshu Prasher, Whiteboard Capital, said, "Though the last year has brought a lot of attention to mental health issues, most of the conversation around mental health has been centred around specialist help or support groups which is typically a sign of serious underlying conditions."

He added, "At Now&Me, Drishti and Bani are working towards normalising peer group conversations around mental health at a much earlier stage by building a safe, open and free community hopefully helping people share without any fear of being judged. We are excited to be a part of this mission to help reduce serious mental health issues and wish the team luck on their journey ahead."

On Now&Me, a user can express their feelings even with the option of anonymity. It gives them an option to talk to compassionate people from all across the world who have been through similar struggles. 

With this round of funding, the team plans to onboard highly passionate individuals to our team, who want to change the mental health landscape. The statement added the startup will be expanding their engineering, design, and product growth teams with a strong focus towards community-building efforts.

Ash Lilani, Saama Capital said, "There is growing awareness about the importance of mental health. Especially in the backdrop of the pandemic, it is increasingly being treated with the same level of importance that has been accorded to physical health conventionally. Now&Me’s community-led model of care and support is a unique and differentiated approach. We are excited by the traction shown by the company and are impressed by the passion demonstrated by the founders."