Easy and fast access to high-quality mental health care – that is what the HelloBetter team is working towards. The start-up sees psychological health as a human right. All the greater was the joy at this success: co-founder Philip Ihde, TUM School of Management alumnus, and his co-founders were recognized as Technology Pioneers at a global level in 2024. This was a “huge motivational boost and confirmation” of what they have been doing for a long time and what they are committed to. This award shows how important the topic of mental health is. Nevertheless, there have been challenges along the way. Find out how the start-up overcame them and what Philip Ihde sees for the future of psychology here.

How the idea came about

The start-up began as a research project over 10 years ago. The subject was the question of whether psychotherapy could also work online. The team behind HelloBetter developed various products and conducted studies which are still the cornerstones of today's products. And the scientific results were so convincing that they actually wanted to bring the product into healthcare.

Development of the start-up over the years

The pandemic from 2020 turned life upside down and was a major psychological challenge for many. Philip recognized this, too. Within 2-3 weeks, their team set up a package consisting of an app, telephone hotline and online community – with over 100 volunteer psychologists and psychotherapists from Germany. The psychological COVID hotline from HelloBetter was born. And this was also publicized by the Ministry of Health alongside the telephone counseling service in all channels.

HelloBetter now offers six of its products free of charge. Free in the sense of: financed and covered by statutory health insurance. The team wants to make it possible for people to receive the right support quickly. It is therefore working to keep the hurdles as low as possible and offer people the format they need and can ideally incorporate into their everyday lives.

Skills that every founder should develop

Founding a start-up is indeed a demanding journey in most cases. “If you go through at least one existential crisis every year for ten years, then I don't think that's something you can just shrug off,” says Philip. Resilience is therefore very important, especially in the healthcare sector.

But it also requires the ability to see something that other people don't see, yet. To have a vision, to imagine something and to see the goal on the horizon. And then you have to do everything you can to reach this goal. Basically, every founder sits in front of a blank sheet of paper – if you do nothing yourself, nothing is created.

Challenges in the start-up phase

Setting up a company is a series of challenges. It is important to identify these and work together as a team to overcome them. The phase the start-up is in plays an important role here. At the beginning, it's all about product-market fit. In other words, what do you offer and in what form so that the market accepts and buys it?

In the HelloBetter example, there are also regulatory issues. For example, the business model: there are very different options for companies in the healthcare sector to access the market. There are 1001 ways to build a healthcare business. And everything has advantages and disadvantages.

Later on, it's about scaling and opening up new markets – all of which also come with challenges. And with growth, there are always new challenges. Decisions that need to be made. The team is extremely important in order to work together on solutions. “Of course, we also use our products ourselves and are very open as a team and support each other.”

TUM Munich as preparation for the start-up

Co-Founder Philip Ihde graduated from TUM School of Management in 2013 and sees TUM “as a leading institution when it comes to founding”. He praises the extracurricular courses in particular, which have been greatly expanded over time:

“The wide range of additional courses within the degree program basically have three major advantages, firstly: the close exchange with the business world. Students have the opportunity to come into contact with a wide variety of representatives from the business world – CEOs, division heads and employees. From start-ups to global corporations. Secondly, TUM offers great support and an extremely wide range of opportunities. I founded a company in the social sector and that was always supported. Last but not least: Students also benefit from project studies. They are completely free to identify topics, issues and entrepreneurial challenges and then work on them with practice partners. I, for example, carried out his project studies with BMW in China. And that fostered essential skills such as problem-solving, openness and resilience early on.”

The most important tip for prospective founders

Philip considers the choice of the founding team to be extremely important. Prospective founders should therefore give themselves enough time to put together the right team that can overcome the mentioned challenges. After all, existential fears are not uncommon among start-ups. Just like rejection. “Fundraising, which is very important, consists of 99% percent rejection”. That's a big challenge when you're on your own. Of course, there are also solo founders, but for Philip personally, the right team was essential. A team that supports and encourages each other is not to be underestimated.

The future of mental health and HelloBetter

Philip sees a fundamental change in how mental health care is being delivered. AI plays an important role in this. Among other things, HelloBetter is working on AI-based therapy and new blended care solutions.

This requires the appropriate expertise and processes to be able to map certain risks that naturally go hand in hand with this. HelloBetter believes “in the combination of technology and human experts”. This has been the case in the past and will continue to be the case in the future.

Mental health challenges continue to rise globally, with an increasing number of people seeking psychological support and care. This trend is likely to persist, making mental healthcare an ever more crucial concern for the future. While technology is emerging as a valuable tool to improve accessibility and delivery of mental health services, there remains a critical need to destigmatize mental health and promote open dialogue about psychological wellbeing.

More about HelloBetter