At Amplify Capital, we actively support and invest in mission-driven founders and their startups across North America, focusing on healthcare, education, and environmental technologies. Our thesis is grounded in backing companies where purpose drives profit to deliver scalable and outsized financial alongside impact returns.

We believe we can foster impact investing and transform how we think about investing by doing well and doing good.

The Problem

Mental health is quickly becoming a top-funded priority for care providers and employers in digital therapeutics. Globally, one in every ten persons suffers from a mental health issue. This covers, among other things, depression, anxiety, bipolar illness, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Poor mental health costs the global economy an estimated $2.5 trillion annually, which is expected to climb to $6 trillion by 2030. Investing in mental health is both important and necessary. Every dollar invested in treatment for depression and anxiety yields a $4 return in improved health and productivity. Those suffering from mental health issues cannot fully participate in society if their needs are unmet.

Amplify's impact investment thesis is based on investing in solutions that solve the needs of the underprivileged at scale. The COVID-19 pandemic heightened concerns about mental health and well-being. It also helped normalize the significance of equal and expanded access to professional mental health resources. Many systemic challenges make it difficult to access mental health services, including:

A limited number of licensed practitioners in OECD countries
Lack of personalization and potentially adverse side effects from pharmacological treatments
Inadequate access to and affordability of individualized psychotherapy
75% of those living in low and middle-income countries receive no mental health treatment at all

The Solution

LUCID is a digital music therapist. Its health platform provides a clinically validated means of delivering music therapy as a solo or supplemental treatment for anxiety, burnout, and dementia. LUCID offers inexpensive, safe and easy-to-implement music therapy through its VIBE: Calm, Focus, Sleep app.

Music therapy offers various benefits, such as reducing agitation and enhancing cognition in Alzheimer's patients, reducing stress and emotional exhaustion in burnout patients, reducing discomfort and opioid requirements for pain patients, and treating pain in pediatric patients.

Music has been used as an experiential therapy for nearly 70 years, although it is sometimes neglected as a typical treatment delivery method. Music is used by 60% of people to regulate their well-being. Personalized sessions and self-management are still limited to in-person sessions with a qualified music therapist or accessing music libraries that do not include deliberate therapeutic activation. Current music therapy options range in price from $60 to $90 for a 60-minute session and may consist of singing, instruments, or recorded music.

Compared to other forms of anxiety therapy, music can be a safe, discrete, and low-cost solution for the underserved. Patients identify more strongly with the music content. They are more likely to experience the desired consequence when the emotional content matches an individual's current mood and shifts towards their goal state. While other music services offer individualized music recommendations, LUCID's music is customized based on tastes rather than cognitive response, making it more effective for health results.

Investment Thesis

LUCID addresses the urgent need for mental health care and support. It is highly scalable and cost-effective for any patient who wants to access support anytime and anywhere. LUCID is affordable, democratizing access to therapy for currently underserved populations. It can be accessed anywhere, anytime, and used as needed by individuals seeking support.

LUCID develops music-based digital therapeutics to improve outcomes in mental and neuropsychiatric health. The LUCID platform focuses on users' individual, tailored cognitive reactions and employs a reinforcement learning system to support and guide users to their desired emotions.

In 2019, Amplify first met the LUCID team. We decided to invest in 2022 after following LUCID's journey. LUCID's team of 11 is led by co-founders Zach McMahon (CEO), Aaron Labbé (CTO), and Zo Thomson (CIO). LUCID has early clinical validation and a personally motivated staff, and a mission-driven team. They share the drive to build an effective mental health solution. The COVID-19 epidemic has raised the demand for digital health solutions, particularly those that manage anxiety and depression.

As well being becomes more critical, the depression and anxiety management segments are expanding. Digital health solutions are gaining popularity; the global spend on mental health applications is expected to reach $4.2 billion in 2021.

LUCID Music Therapy Process

Users choose their therapy goal depending on the app's target indicators. LUCID's current focus is stress and anxiety reduction, Alzheimer's recollection treatment, tinnitus, and pain management. LUCID has already partnered with several digital health apps outside of these areas, including sleep management.

At the start of any therapy session, the user determines their present mood using the Russell Circumplex (Arousal/Valence Model). Based on the user's responses to the first two phases, the platform will recommend music based on their preferences and change the music based on user feedback on their mood.

Russell Circumplex or Arousal/Valence Model

Impact

LUCID will contribute to Amplify’s goal of improving the health outcomes of 10 million people by 2030. LUCID increases accessibility to affordable and personalized therapies. Early clinical validation and commercial traction demonstrate that music therapy can help complement existing treatments.

SDGs: 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing) – 3.4 Reduce by ⅓ premature mortality from non-communicable disease through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and wellbeing. Indicator: 3.4.2 - suicide mortality rate.

We’re thrilled to welcome LUCID to Amplify’s growing portfolio! If you’re as excited about LUCID’s mission as we are, feel free to follow their journey with us. Remember to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on Amplify Capital’s exciting companies.

Are you working on something big that can leave a mark on the world? We’d love to hear from you! Visit us at Amplify Capital or reach out at hello@amplifycapital.ca.