With its list of clients growing, CyberPsyc Software Solutions has broken into the lucrative U.S. market.
The five-year-old Fredericton startup, whose software helps organizations improve the mental health of this members, has secured HCL America, an IT consulting and services company, as its first corporate client. And Founder and CEO Darren Piercey said CyberPsyc, which so far has been selling mainly to universities, has a strong pipeline which should lead to further sales.
“We’re getting really good traction,” said Piercey in a phone interview Wednesday. “Just in the past few weeks, we’ve signed three new customers. So we’ve got 13 customers now and we expect to double that by the end of the year.”
CyberPsyc has developed a Software-as-a-Service product that uses the research conducted by Piercey, a University of New Brunswick psychology professor, to help people treat phobias and anxiety.
Since January 2014, CyberPsyc has been selling products mainly to treat three conditions – stress, anxiety and depression. Together, they make up a massive market when you consider that anxiety and depression cost the North American economy an estimated $46 billion each year.
CyberPsyc’s flagship product is WellTrack, an online platform that provides users the treatment and tools they need to overcome these afflictions.
Using treatment called Computerized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, WellTrack replicates environments in which individuals may feel stressed and helps them deal effectively in those situations. This product is complemented by a mobile app called MoodCheck, which pings users daily to help them identify activities or environments that make them happy, sad or anxious.
A statement from the company said WellTrack is currently deployed in universities across Atlantic Canada where it is being used by about 2500 people. CyberPsyc said that of those students who chose to log in and try a session, 70 per cent returned for more therapy.
The company has received funding in the past from such investors as the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and East Valley Ventures Co-Founder Gerry Pond. It raised a round of $135,000 last year and Piercey is now seeking $2 million in what he calls a “pre-Series A round”.
The pitches for this funding rest on the growing traction the company is gaining, and its success with clients like HCL America. It is a division of HCL, an Indian technology services company with more than 100,000 employees in 31 countries.
The CyberPsyc contract initially offers its products to 1,000 employees at the company’s Cary, N.C., American headquarters, and then to its 7,000 employees in the Americas. This contract has the potential to expand CyberPsyc’s reach to all HCL employees.