Cambridge is a world-leading centre for the development of technology and life science firms; the city has long been accepted as a hub for pioneering new companies and a place where brilliant academic minds can turn their innovative ideas into reality. PsychologyOnline is located on the outskirts of the city to tap into networks of existing expertise as Barnaby Perks, chief executive at PsychologyOnline, explains: “Cambridge has the right environment and support networks, including lawyers, accountants and non-executive directors. When I looked at the skills we needed, the software development skills, the clinical management skills, here was the best place and all the best people were here."
Other firms featured in the Observer article include Crowdsurfer, a website which allows users to search for alternative finance options such as peer-to-peer lending and Darktrace, a cyber security firm launched this year which provides technology to companies to allow them to monitor threats to their computer networks.
PsychologyOnline was co-founded in 2011 by Barnaby Perks and two chartered psychologists, Sue Wright and Nadine Field. Having worked in the NHS in England and witnessed first hand the scarcity of therapists, they started the company in a bid to make top quality cognitive behavioural therapy easily accessible to all.
Therapy from PsychologyOnline is available on the NHS across Surrey and to private individuals across the UK and overseas via Thinkwell. It helps people suffering from a wide range of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, phobia and stress-related problems.
PsychologyOnline’s in house developers have created a secure messaging system to allow service users and therapists to write short, confidential messages to each other during sessions, which last up to an hour at a time. All users need is a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone and a stable internet connection.
"This way patients are comfortable,” Barnaby explains. “They can have therapy at home at a time that suits them. The results show the system has higher recovery rates and takes fewer sessions than face-to-face therapy for patients to get better.”
You can read more about the 16 leading Cambridge tech startups here and for more information on PsychologyOnline, please visit the website: www.psychologyonline.co.uk