TIDMIVO
RNS Number : 4276Q
Touchstone Innovations PLC
12 September 2017
12 September 2017
Touchstone Innovations plc
Touchstone commits GBP8m in GBP18m funding round in Ieso Digital
Health
Touchstone Innovations plc (AIM: IVO, 'the Group', 'Touchstone')
has co-led a GBP18.0 million funding round in Ieso Digital Health
("Ieso" or "the Company"), the UK's leading provider of online
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for the treatment of people
suffering from community based mental healthcare conditions,
predominantly depression and anxiety.
Touchstone has committed GBP8.0 million to the round, including
a loan of GBP2.0 million from May 2017, which has now converted to
equity. Touchstone invested alongside new investor Draper Esprit,
who co-led the round, together with existing investor Ananda Social
Venture Fund and a number of business angels.
Ieso, based in Cambridge, is the largest provider of online CBT
in the UK. By the end of 2017, Ieso will have delivered over
100,000 hours of therapy to more than 16,700 patients, within the 9
million patients who have access via clinical commissioning
contracts. The Company's proprietary web-based platform provides
patients with access to CBT, delivered in real-time by accredited
therapists utilising written (typed) conversation directly
accessible from their computer, tablet or smartphone.
Therapy delivered in this way has been clinically validated in
routine NHS service to deliver better results than traditional
face-to-face methods, with higher levels of access, patient
engagement, therapy session completion and lower drop-out
rates.
The new funding will enable Ieso to continue to grow its UK
business and accelerate its introduction and expansion in the US,
where the Company has achieved significant early traction and
recently appointed a new highly-experienced management team.
As at 31 January 2017, the Group had a 46.9% interest in the
issued share capital of Ieso. Following this new investment
Touchstone will hold a 49.3% interest in the Company.
Commenting on this funding round, Dan Clark, CEO of Ieso
said:
"Ieso is creating transformative change in mental health
treatment.
"An estimated 60% of patients do not seek out mental health
services, largely because of stigma and difficulty in accessing
care. We've helped eliminate these barriers and are empowering
patients by delivering therapy at a time that fits their lifestyles
and through devices that are a part of their everyday lives.
"This new funding will allow us to continue scaling
geographically and innovating our technology by applying artificial
intelligence and machine learning to enhance therapist support and
further improving patient access."
Inga Deakin, Principal at Touchstone and Ieso Board member
added:
"We first invested in Ieso in 2013. From the outset, we believed
that the best way to nurture the business was to demonstrate
traction in the UK National Health Service, which has a
world-leading CBT delivery infrastructure and ambitious targets for
delivery of treatment to patients.
"With more than 16,700 patients treated, Ieso has developed
outstanding clinical credentials and built a strong evidenced-based
platform. The Company has also assembled a highly-experienced
management team, comprising world-class artificial intelligence and
data scientists, clinicians, therapists and executive
leadership.
"This new funding round is the largest amount raised by a
digital behavioural health business in Europe and will enable the
next phase of growth."
For further information contact:
Touchstone Innovations plc 020 3053 8834
Russ Cummings, Chief Executive Officer
Jon Davies, Director of Communications
Instinctif Partners 020 7457 2020
Adrian Duffield/Melanie Toyne-Sewell/Chantal
Woolcock
J.P. Morgan Cazenove (Nominated Adviser) 020 7742 4000
Michael Wentworth-Stanley/Alec Pratt
RBC Capital Markets 020 7653 4000
Darrell Uden/Marcus Jackson/Laura White
About Touchstone Innovations - www.touchstoneinnovations.com
Touchstone Innovations plc (formerly Imperial Innovations Group
plc) creates, builds and invests in pioneering technology companies
and licensing opportunities developed from outstanding scientific
research from the 'Golden Triangle', the geographical region
broadly bounded by London, Cambridge and Oxford.
This area has an unrivalled cluster of outstanding academic
research and technology businesses, and is home to four of the
world's top 10 universities, as well as leading research
institutions, the cream of the UK's science and technology
businesses and many of its leading investors.
Touchstone supports scientists and entrepreneurs in the
commercialisation of their ideas through protecting and licensing
out intellectual property (through its Technology Transfer
subsidiary, Imperial Innovations Limited), by leading the formation
of new companies, by recruiting high calibre management teams and
by providing investment and encouraging co-investment. Touchstone
remains an active investor over the life of its portfolio
companies, with the majority of its investment going into
businesses in which it is already a shareholder.
Since becoming a public company in 2006, Touchstone has raised
more than GBP440 million of equity from investors, which has
enabled it to invest in some of the most exciting spin-outs to come
out of UK academic research. In addition, the Group has drawn down
the outstanding GBP50.0 million from the European Investment Bank
(EIB) taking the total loan to GBP80.0 million.
Between admission to AIM (August 2006) and 30 June 2017,
Touchstone has invested a total of GBP364.0 million across its
portfolio companies, which have collectively raised investment of
more than GBP1.5 billion.
About Ieso Digital Health - https://uk.iesohealth.com/
Ieso Digital Health (Ieso) offers real-time one-to-one therapy
online for people dealing with depression and anxiety. The
Company's proprietary web-based platform enables Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to be delivered in real-time by real
therapists using written (typed) conversation.
Ieso is the largest provider of online CBT in the UK, and has
treated more than 16,700 patients and captured over 75 million
clinical data units in the company's therapy database. These data
are then analysed, with the findings being used to support
continuous improvement in the product and in the therapists'
performance.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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