Amelia Virtual Care is the new name that Psious has chosen to open a new stage: the Barcelona-based virtual reality company applied to the health sector has raised a round of 7 million euros and is launched in the United States, where it has opened an office in Silicon Valley and has hired a CEO, Afsana Akhter, with 15 years of experience in digital health companies in Mountain View.
The new round, of seven million euros, is led by Endra, an association of private investors in which British and Spanish investors participate, and by the CDTI, through the Invest program launched by the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
This round brings the resources raised so far by the company to around 13 million euros, explains Guillem Masferrer, an associate at Sabadell Asabys Partners, the manager that now leads the company's capital. After her, the most outstanding shareholders are Caixa Capital Risc and CG Ventures, the fund directed by Carlos Gallardo, president of Almirall.
Xavier Palomer, founder and CEO of the company, explains that the new injection of capital aims to accelerate growth in the United States, "which is already where we are growing faster and better." The name change, he points out, is a tribute to aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. “We founded the company to treat the fear of flying and now, like her, we cross the Atlantic,” he says. Amelia VC, founded in 2013, had a turnover of 2 million euros last year and expects to double that figure this year. With 60 employees, 55 of them at its headquarters in Barcelona, the firm plans to maintain this rate of growth and balance the accounts within two years. "We are not worried about having profits soon, but growing," says Masferrer. The firm has also incorporated a new operational director, Raúl Peris, at its headquarters in Barcelona.
Amelia has developed a virtual reality platform to treat all kinds of mental health disorders, from fear of flying to all kinds of phobias as well as anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The firm has developed its programs in collaboration with the large hospitals in Barcelona, which are now its clients, such as Vall d'Hebron, the Clínic, Sant Pau or the Hospital del Mar. "We want to provide health professionals with a flexible and global tool, and we work together with them to develop therapeutic protocols”, said Palomer. For this reason, Masferrer explained, the company rules out addressing consumers directly "although technology would really make it possible," he acknowledged.
