DIGITAL PLATFORM FOR TRAUMA THERAPY

Long waiting lists, high workloads, and persistent staff shortages: the pressure on mental healthcare is high and continues to rise. We therefore need to find smart solutions to this problem. Brothers Sander and Menno Kamphuis already have one: Moovd. With their digital platform, they offer several products to digitize mental healthcare, making it more efficient and effective.

Their largest product at the moment is a SAAS platform called WeMind for therapists who provide trauma treatment. "Think of EMDR, but also Exposure Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy," says Sander. "With our application, therapists can provide treatment remotely. So you're no longer tied to your own region for care; the patient or therapist can be anywhere in the world. This significantly reduces their workload and allows therapists to help patients not only faster but also better."

This also has to do with the gamification of the treatment. Sander: “The client plays a kind of game, so to speak, which makes the treatment seem fun, even though they're actually dealing with their trauma. That makes it a suitable treatment for children as well. The program adapts its level to how well the patient plays it. As a result, patients are less likely to get distracted, and you can achieve results faster. After the treatment, they no longer feel tension when they think about the trauma. For some patients, that truly feels like magic.”

Product-market fit

Sander sees good growth for Moovd in the Dutch market. Several health insurers already reimburse the platform. “We have a good product-market fit and we know the therapists and insurers in the Netherlands,” says Sander. “But in countries like Germany and France, you have to re-enter the insurance system to grow. That takes time. That's why we've set our sights on countries where things work differently, like the United States and Canada.” But a new market also brings new challenges. That's why Sander and Menno decided to join the GROW program.

Same product, different market

The brothers had several specific questions when they joined the program. How can the same product work in a different market? Sander: “And especially: how do you measure that? And what tests do we need to run?” The GROW program answered these questions with its data-driven approach. “We first had to look at our situation in the Netherlands. That includes churn, retention, lifetime value, acquisition cost… Here in the Netherlands, we onboard institutions with more than 100 employees as our clients. In the US, that target group is very different, because there it's primarily individual therapists who want to purchase a license or subscription. We conducted a lot of tests in the program to determine who our clients are in that new market, and how the same product can succeed in the US. It was a very step-by-step methodology. I really liked that.”

A comprehensive platform for trauma therapy

While venturing abroad is daunting, Sander is convinced that growth lies there. "With what we currently have in the pipeline, we expect to continue to grow steadily in the Netherlands," he says. "In about five years, we want to be the first choice as a platform for all mental healthcare institutions seriously engaged in trauma treatment—and we're already well on our way. In the US, we ultimately want to become the market leader and possibly merge with other companies. There are several competitors there, after all. In terms of product, I do see the potential to add more therapies, so that we become a comprehensive platform for trauma therapists. And ultimately, for clients themselves, who become much more independent and want to take control. We're already working on that. We have big ambitions, and that's why we're now working on our next round of funding. And we often have vacancies for people who share our dream. That dream is to become the first choice for trauma therapy, both in the Netherlands and abroad."

Curious about how their story started? Read the case from 2020.