The year is 2024. Intellect has just concluded its fourth annual Mental Health Festival on the back of global growth for the company throughout the year. 

Intellect team at Mental Health Festival 2024

Building the Market, Not Just the Product: A Case Study on Intellect

The year is 2024. Intellect has just concluded its fourth annual Mental Health Festival on the back of global growth for the company throughout the year. 

The year is 2024. Intellect has just concluded its fourth annual Mental Health Festival on the back of global growth for the company throughout the year. 

There was the momentum generated with the Singapore government as they made mental healthcare a national priority. There was their partnership with healthcare provider Accresa that opened up their expansion into the US. There was the headway they were making in key markets beyond Southeast Asia like Japan, Australia, and Europe. 

As the year-end approaches, CEO and co-founder Theodoric Chew (Theo) and his management team are gearing up to reach even greater heights in the following year. 

Their goals are summed up quite succinctly. Over the past year, they had become the leading mental health benefits company in Asia, a milestone Intellect had been building up towards in the past four years. 

The next task for the company is to become a global leader in hyper local mental health care. Intellect has localized mental health care for many markets in arguably the toughest region to localize for, Asia. But has that created enough of a template and fundamentals for the company to truly go global? 

In this case study, we trace the journey of Intellect through the years and through the podcasts and conversations we have had with Theo, and some of Intellect’s management team, including Frank (currently VP of Growth), Oliver (VP of Clinical), and Cassandra (VP of Partnerships & Solutions)

From this journey, we identify key pillars of Intellect’s growth strategy that provide insight into how they might achieve this global ambition. 

Bringing together all these pillars is a principle of “building the market.” 

For a company looking to redefine mental healthcare in a region like Asia, they could not just afford to be product-centric and push out an app that people love. Intellect needed to create infrastructure for the market to make it easier to adopt their services and put it on par with primary care, as they continue to do today, with their flagship clinics. 

“Fundamentally the two big challenges are that mental health care is a very nascent space in Asia. So not just the demand, but also the supply of it. 

We are building and carving out the category. The good thing is that there are many proof points already happening in the US and in Europe and Asia is a very closely following market that actually is expanding in need as well. 

So that’s the first big piece. The market — we are leading it, but we’re also building it all together. So there are challenges, but it’s a blue ocean network we’re trying to capture as well. 

The next key thing I would say is really building the infrastructure. It hasn’t changed over the last few decades. We’re building those pieces here as well.” – Theodoric Chew, Intellect CEO and Co-Founder (2022)

Editor’s Note: Quotes from this case study are from On Call with Insignia podcast and TechCrunch coverage of Intellect’s funding rounds through the years.

A Brief History of Intellect (May 2020 to July 2024)

Before Intellect

Intellect was Theo’s second company. 

The first company he started was a digital media platform that was veering into a similar direction of Intellect in the mental wellbeing space, in terms of promoting personal development and bettering people as well. They worked with doctors, lawyers, thought leaders, basically, to create kind of a “BuzzFeed to educate people.” 

It grew a little bit. It was acquired by Rakuten a few years later and that’s how Theo “fell into” the tech ecosystem in Singapore. 

He then spent some time in Rakuten before getting into a few roles that ranged from tech to investing. He also led marketing and growth at Entrepreneur First. 

“But all along the way one key thing that has been with me since I started was really bettering who we are as people. How I started Intellect was really solving a personal problem as well.” – Theodoric Chew, Intellect CEO and Co-Founder (2021)

Theo had been through therapy when he was younger. He had anxiety and a few bouts of panic attacks that led him to see a therapist. Those experiences shaped his view of mental health. 

“…it’s a much-needed solution, but very taboo and stigmatized.”

The Reality of Mental Health in Asia

When it comes to mental health, Asia is a region where extreme cases dominate public perception.

“So a year back [in 2020] when we were knocking on doors and chatting with people, a lot of people just kind of shied away…People think quite instinctively when you talk about therapy, mental health…they almost jump towards things like schizophrenia, maybe more suicidal thoughts, maybe more towards things like panic attacks and all that.

That is a very important segment to be solved for, but not what most people like you and I will actually relate to. 

So an interesting stat that I’ll just share is that more than 90% of our users across the middle of users that we have right now, they never actually have any prior experience of therapy or any mental support. 

So we are the first step into care, which is just what we are trying to do. From there, what we’re trying to say is that this is actually a lot more different than what you perceived. Everyone has their own struggles. You don’t need to be in the critical state to actually start working on who you are. But that’s the narrative that we’re trying to shift towards, making mental wellbeing for everyone, basically.” – Theodoric Chew, Intellect CEO and Co-Founder (2021)

This was the kind of barrier Intellect had to overcome in the market they were starting out in. But there were other, fundamental issues. 

“One is the cost. It’s really expensive to seek help or get access to care and look for therapists, psychologists…

…there’s quite a shortage in supply of mental health practitioners across the region. Singapore actually has one of the lowest supplies in comparison to many other developed cities in the world.” – Theodoric Chew, Intellect CEO and Co-Founder (2021)

The Pandemic Shift on Mental Health Awareness

But amidst grappling with these challenges as a young startup figuring out their go-to-market, the pandemic in 2020 put a spotlight on mental health in a way that would spur individuals and even organizations to look at solutions like Intellect’s. 

“One thing that we see with COVID happening a year back…is that people are starting to open up about their own struggles.

…what has happened is that [the pandemic] has really accelerated the pace of mental health adoption across the world and definitely Asia as well. 

A year back when we were pitching this to clients and prospects, it’s more seen as a nice-to-have solution but what we see is that a lot more companies [now] see [this] as a must-have. We are on the agendas of many of the companies and clients we work with for 2021.” – Theodoric Chew, Intellect CEO and Co-Founder (2021)

This shift was critical for Intellect not just on an individual, consumer level, but also on an organizational level, as the company saw the opportunity not just in becoming another mental health care app (like so many that emerged in popularity from the pandemic) but also a mental health benefits solutions for businesses.

The Consumer App that Brought the Intellect Brand Global

But first, on their consumer app, which already brought Intellect onto the global stage from a product and brand standpoint long before the business embarked on a similar journey:

“We have two core products. Our main product is an enterprise solution where we service corporates, companies to care for the employees’ wellbeing. 

Another part of it is our consumer app as well. It is across a million-plus users worldwide right now, a huge majority of them from Asia.

But our consumer app has blown up quite organically across the world. So we have a huge amount of users in the US and many European speaking countries like Germany, Spain, France, and even some parts of South America as well. 

That’s one key part where we see this whole journey, while we are starting from Asia, we see it’s not just restricted to any boundaries or geographies. People around the world need access and we are trying to bridge that gap for them.” – Theodoric Chew, Intellect CEO and Co-Founder (2021)

Intellect’s app covers a range of services, but there are two main features. There are the app’s self-guided programs, developed by a team of psychologists and based on cognitive behavioral therapy. These programs essentially guide the user through a series of sessions that work on the self.

The second main feature are the live telehealth sessions. The app connects users with their own coach or counselor. So a typical employee or user that comes on the platform can start with either. They go through a series of assessments that basically help assess where they are on their journeys.

Based on what they need, the app recommends a personalized journey for them to tackle whatever issues they have. It ranges anywhere from more coping areas like coping with anxiety, coping with maybe some forms of low mood all the way towards developing who they are as well.

“Our programs around procrastination, even towards self-esteem and confidence see a lot of usage amongst users and employees, because we know people instinctively want to start more subclinical, more and more every day and then slowly funnel towards high touch care as well.

So we first measure how they’re doing, funnel them to the right journey of care, and they can go on 24/7 towards self-guided programs or life coaching and counseling sessions as well.” – Theodoric Chew, Intellect CEO and Co-Founder (2021)

In terms of programs, Intellect has two main types as well. One is the longer-term program that simulates working with a therapist over a few weeks. They call those their “learning paths”, one of Intellect’s flagship services that the company expected to have the most usage. 

The second type of program is called their “rescue session.” These are more bite-sized and on-the-go, and while they didn’t expect as much usage on these programs, they eventually saw that people did want to have on-the-go access to mental healthcare as well. 

After launching Intellect in May 2020, the consumer app quickly racked up users, reaching a million in November. 

The Enterprise Platform that Allowed Intellect to Redefine Employee Mental Health Benefits

It was during this time that Intellect closed an undisclosed seed round, led by Insignia Ventures Partners. “Angel investors including e-commerce platform Carousell co-founder and chief executive officer Quek Siu Rui; former Sequoia partner Tim Lee; and startup consultancy xto10x’s Southeast Asia CEO J.J. Chai also participated.”

On the enterprise side, according to a TechCrunch article, Intellect was already being used by “10,000 employees, and its clients include tech companies, regional operations for multinational corporations and hospitals. Most are located in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and India, and range in size from 100 to more than 3,000 employees.”

So Intellect’s enterprise approach was to position itself as a step beyond “Employee Assistance Programs” or EAPs. Theo explains. 

“A lot of times with the companies that we work with, we are typically their first mental health solution across the spectrum. What we are typically complimenting or working alongside is something called EAPs, which are more distress hotlines. These are the incumbents in the industry.

What they do typically is more reactive. When employees are distressed, they pick up the hotline, they call it and they will possibly get triaged towards care within a few days or weeks, depending on how quick the system is. What we come in and do is that we cover anywhere from proactive, all the way towards extreme cases as well.

So in this sense, are now really complementing such solutions and also replacing some of the EAPs in companies big and small. We work with startups of a leaner structure all the way towards a couple of large enterprises with thousands of headcount as well. So that’s what we do today [in 2021].” – Theodoric Chew, Intellect CEO and Co-Founder (2021)

Intellect quickly proved its appeal to employees with adoption rates compared to EAPs. 

“One very interesting stat is that on average, we see about a one to 2% adoption and utilization of EAPs in the company. and that’s honestly really low. Intellect, for example, we see on average within the first month or so, an average of a 30% uptake within the whole company. 

So of course it ranges depending on the demographic of the company at the moment, are they millennials or are they more based in Asia, what’s the average profile, but on average you see about 30% of the workforce take it up, which is close to 15 to 30 times more than what EAPs do.

I would say that’s one big thing that we see and actually really differ and promote to our clients whom we speak with because one key thing is that utilization is much higher and people actually like using it as well.” – Theodoric Chew, Intellect CEO and Co-Founder (2021)

How the B2B Focus Allowed Intellect to Scale Market Building

The key for Intellect’s growth is that even as their consumer went global quickly for a newcomer app, even listing on Google’s best personal growth apps of 2020, they kept their focus on the enterprise business, which did not only provide more predictive revenues but also a more institutional foothold in a market they were redefining. 

Their growth trajectory within its first two years attracted the attention of Y Combinator. The company joined the S21 cohort and wrapped up the experience with a US$2.2 million pre-Series A round

“The round was led by returning investor Insignia Ventures Partners and included participation from Y Combinator, XA Network and angel investors like Rainforest co-founder J.J. Chai; Prenetics and CircleDNA founder Danny Yeung; and Gilberto Gaeta, Google’s director of global HR operations.”

According to a TechCrunch article, “The startup now claims more than 2.5 million app users, and 20 enterprise clients, including FoodPanda, Shopback, Carousell, Avery Dennison, Schroders and government agencies.

Founder and chief executive officer Theodoric Chew told TechCrunch that Intellect’s usage rate is higher than traditional EAP helpline solutions. On average, its mental health benefits solution sees about 20% to 45% engagement within three months after being adopted by companies with more than 5,000 employees.”

This combination of a popular mental healthcare app with a well-adopted enterprise solution was effective in setting up that infrastructure to make mental healthcare more accessible. 

“We have a core business [that is] B2B-driven. We work with a lot of employers and insurers to push mental health benefits to workforces and policyholders across APAC. 

What we do have is a very unique, I would say, secret sauce channel [through] our consumer app. We launched this consumer app where we use it as a front-facing channel that gives access to the masses to get started on mental health. It helps us actually get people started on Intellect as well. 

We launched it in April last year at the end of about 15, 16 months ago and when we launched, [the app] was sort of in a beta form. We hadn’t actually fully blown out what we wanted to do for it. [Then] we crossed a million users at the end of the year. So it got exciting quickly. Fast forward to today, we’re now well past 2.5 million users. So the pace is constantly growing and picking up. So it’s been really exciting on that front. 

I would say what has been a lot clearer is that [the app] is a fulfillment of this vision of a mental health care system. So we went from a self-care app for consumers, to now telehealth, and we match individuals and employees to personal coaches, counselors, and psychologists anywhere across the region. 

The app has gone from one language in English to now 11 languages across Asia from Japanese to Thai and we have a network of professionals and providers across all these markets in the region. 

So we’re [rapidly] trying to fulfill the vision of being the most comprehensive and extensive mental health system in the region. And we’ve done a good amount of that [already].” – Theodoric Chew, Intellect CEO and Co-Founder (2021)

A few months later after Y Combinator, Intellect raised a US$10 million Series A round in 2022. 

According to a TechCrunch article, “The round, which Intellect claims is the largest Series A ever raised by a mental health startup in Asia, was led by HOF Capital. New investors included Headline, East Ventures, MS&AD Ventures, DG Daiwa Ventures and Pioneer Fund; existing backer Insignia Ventures Partners also returned.

Intellect claims its year-on-year revenue grew by over 20x in 2021, due in large part to new enterprise clients like foodpanda, Shopback, Singtel, Kuehne & Nagel and Schroders. It also partners with insurers and benefits brokers like Mercer.

…It currently has about three million registered users, in a total of 20 countries, with a strong commercial presence in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia, said Chew.”

Six months later, this Series A was extended by another US$10 million.

When Going Global Requires More Than Just Product, But Partnerships

Raising this significant round ultimately went into building the market globally, not just in Asia. To do that, Intellect had to go beyond an app and enterprise solution built on a growing network of mental healthcare specialists and therapists. They needed work with partners who believed in their work and could help them scale distribution far wider and faster than if they took on this global expansion alone. 

A key milestone in forming these partnerships was the strategic round with IHH Healthcare, Asia’s largest private healthcare group. Leading this partnership was Cassandra Loh, VP of Partnerships & Solutions. She had previously worked at IHH as well and this represented a full circle moment.

“When we had our strategic partnership with IHH Healthcare, which, by the way, meant a lot to me because that’s where I gained a lot of my foundation. I spent 10 years there, and now going back as a strategic partner, working with many of the same people but from a different perspective, it meant a lot personally and professionally.

As we were brainstorming on various working models and use cases, it struck me that this aspect of mental health care isn’t much spoken about in the world, and it’s not just relevant for employees, but for patients too.

For example, mothers after they’ve been discharged from the hospital postnatally—there’s the same demand, not just in Singapore, not just in Asia, but everywhere. If IHH Healthcare, such a significant organization, is willing to take this solution and say, “Hey, our patients need it,” then the question becomes: can this be replicated globally?

That was the earliest time I realized we’re not just confined to Singapore, Malaysia, or Asia. We actually have something that could work because the problem statement is the same. We are so good at localizing that this could work in other markets as well.

And then, of course, this brought many requests for proposals or solutions from different parts of the world. As we understood these requests, we realized that we were already covering many global companies present in these markets.

Gradually, I realized that it’s not just about Asia or our current impact—we truly have a solution that can support global needs, and that’s where we want to grow.” – Cassandra Loh, Intellect VP of Partnerships & Solutions

A significant part of this global expansion strategy was also to break into “tier-1” or high paying markets, like Japan, Australia, the US, and Europe. 

This was a learning curve for Intellect, as these markets were more mature when it came to mental healthcare adoption. They could not bring the same assumptions on stigma and enterprise perception when it comes to solutions like theirs. EAPs are more likely to be familiar (but not necessarily highly adopted) in these markets.

For example, in Japan, Intellect saw how the market was ahead of its Asian neighbors in institutional initiative on mental well-being.

“Japan is one of the first markets in Asia that implemented regulations or started speaking about mental well-being, and that’s way before the pandemic. 

Japan is at the forefront of Asia when it comes to awareness of mental well-being, specifically in the workforce. They’ve had many initiatives in place, whether it’s EAPs, stress checks, or in-house doctors for workplaces of a certain size, to ensure the workforce is well taken care of. 

Post-pandemic, they’ve continued to increase these efforts.” – Cassandra Loh, Intellect VP of Partnerships & Solutions

This goes to the challenge for most tier-1 markets. Because there is already awareness, it’s harder to innovate within a market that is so familiar with EAPs. 

“In other Asian markets, sometimes we strike gold because people aren’t as familiar yet. We bring in awareness, case studies, and something new, which excites them—like in Vietnam, where they are ready and eager for fresh and innovative implementations.

In Japan, because they’re so familiar already, the challenge is how we can innovate within the comfort zone they have. It’s been a learning journey for Intellect as we venture into Japan, but the need is definitely high. We understand the workforce in Japan, so we continue to learn, find gaps, and work with partners to ensure that Intellect’s solution is relevant to them.” – Cassandra Loh, Intellect VP of Partnerships & Solutions

In Japan, one nuance is how Intellect could not implement the same 26-question survey they have run in multiple markets to assess employee well-being, because the market is already familiar with stress checks used in workplaces in the country. 

“Intellect has its own “Intellect Dimensions,” a 26-question questionnaire that measures various metrics, including employee well-being and productivity. We’re very proud of it. But in Japan, they’re so familiar with stress checks that our 26-questionnaire, no matter how robust it is, isn’t a replacement for a stress check. 

Forcing our way through with our questionnaire isn’t going to work in Japan. Therefore, the product team, with inputs from the Japan team, developed a solution that meets the basic level of care expected by the Japanese population—a stress check.

This is a good example of how we respond to the needs of various markets to ensure our solution is not a one-size-fits-all. Kudos to the local team for giving us valuable feedback so we can continue to improve our product and ensure that while we maintain the Intellect spirit of accessibility and localization, we also account for the nuances and readiness of each market.” – Cassandra Loh, Intellect VP of Partnerships & Solutions

But then again, high awareness in EAPs and well-being and productivity tests like the stress check does not necessarily mean high adoption of these mental healthcare services. In these tier-1 markets like Japan, Intellect positions itself as a holistic supplement to existing channels for care. 

“There’s definitely room for EAPs, whether as a foot in the door or as a minimum level of care. 

I’m encouraged that companies are adopting EAPs to provide support. Intellect offers another option, looking after holistic well-being. This plays a big role in destigmatizing and normalizing mental health care because if everyone is using it in various degrees for different functions, it normalizes the utilization of Intellect. That’s where the value of Intellect comes in. 

Everything being housed together also makes it more accessible, helping people find the care they need when they need it. That’s where Intellect’s benefit lies.” – Cassandra Loh, Intellect VP of Partnerships & Solutions

Moving into 2024, as mentioned earlier, Intellect announced a partnership with the public service office of Singapore. 

Intellect is actually covering or providing mental health care to all the public servants in Singapore—everybody that’s employed by the government. 

It’s a multi-year contract as well. But it’s not just because it’s a big employer and a large headcount. More importantly, it shows the confidence that the government has in us and their willingness to work together with us to bring this to the Singapore workforce. To us, that’s really more significant beyond just the deal size.

Having a good case study with the Singapore government definitely supports our conversations with other governments.

We don’t just provide care to employees in Singapore; we also support initiatives like the national website for youths, the national forum for youths, and more. We’re also having conversations with governments of different countries, and they want to learn from these case studies. 

But what’s most important and unique to Intellect is that it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. What works in Singapore definitely wouldn’t be a plug-and-play solution in other markets.

We rely heavily on our partnerships with strategic partners in each market to educate us, teach us about the nuances, and address the gaps they’re facing. But definitely, having a good case study supports the use case and boosts confidence in the quality of care we provide.” – Cassandra Loh, Intellect VP of Partnerships & Solutions

Speaking of strategic partners, in early February 2024, Intellect also announced a partnership with Accresa, a provider of employee benefits in the US. 

“Today marks an incredible milestone as we proudly announce Intellect’s partnership with Ameriflex, a sister company of Accresa and one of the US leading providers of employee benefits. Teaming up with Ameriflex signifies more than just expanding our reach—it’s about bringing our award-winning solution including our self-care app and personalized coaching and counseling sessions to the forefront of the US market. 

With more than 100k American consumers already on the app, we are excited to extend accessible mental wellbeing with Ameriflex as our exclusive distributor. Together, we’re not just changing the landscape of workplace wellness; we’re setting a new standard of care—one that prioritizes mental health as a cornerstone of overall well being. Here’s to a future where every individual, regardless of geography, has access to the support they need to thrive.” – Theodoric Chew, CEO of Intellect from the press release.

Accresa will serve as the enrollment, eligibility, and payment processing platform for Intellect’s subscription mental well being solutions, which include self-care and skills-building programs and behavioral health coaching. Intellect’s plans will be an option to over 55,000 employer groups across the nation.

“We’re so honored to have Accresa as a partner. The U.S. is definitely a more mature market, but when the opportunity came, we saw a gap where the content we’re providing—the localized content and the ability to switch languages for users—is valuable, even in the U.S. In most markets, and of course in the U.S., the workforce is very diverse, so that’s a value add.

We also realized that interest in Intellect has grown beyond just APAC or Asia to a global level. Many large companies in the U.S. have a workforce in Asia, and now they’re curious about what Asia has to offer and how it differs from what they have. 

They wonder if Intellect can support their workforce in the U.S. as well and whether it can provide a solution that serves the entire workforce, localized to individual markets.

Seeing that trend, we’ve put in a lot more effort to ensure that our solution is also localized for the U.S. market.” – Cassandra Loh, Intellect VP of Partnerships & Solutions

Redefining Mental Health’s Place in Primary Care

Another key milestone for Intellect in 2024 was the launch of offline clinics in Singapore (the flagship clinic opening in July in Marina One), signalling a new approach to building the market and aligning further with their new goal of not just driving employee mental health benefits adoption but hyper local mental health care. 

“One of the gaps that we see is a disconnect between psychiatrist care and primary care. And if you ask any developed country, that is a healthcare problem. It’s not just a mental healthcare problem; it’s a healthcare problem where everybody’s just going straight to specialists, going straight into using hospital resources, and there just aren’t enough resources.

With mental health increasing in terms of awareness, we’re going to see the same trajectory where people are going to go to the psychiatrist, right? And it’s going to really drain the resources, and there aren’t that many psychiatrists in most markets to begin with. So now governments are asking, what can we do with primary care?

But then again, what is primary care for mental health? Is it really just GP doctors? Or is it about how we know the gold standard for evidence-based therapy is psychotherapy, behavioral therapy? But people are not used to having that as primary care, at least in this part of the world. So how can we bridge that gap?

That was the problem statement. What we realized we needed to create was still a clinic with a psychotherapist, with our counselor psychologist, but also have GP doctors who are trained in mental health bridge that gap between a psychiatrist and a family physician, for example. And so that’s how the clinic is set up.

The clinic that you’ve mentioned will house our counselors, our psychologists, our case managers, so that we provide that whole team-based care. But on top of that, we will have this clinic be enabled by a general practitioner in the primary care setting, trained in mental health, to be able to bridge that gap, to do triaging, and to provide medication at least at the primary care level.

And that really will ease the resources in the tertiary care setting. Fortunately for us, we have many similar playbooks in other physical health conditions, and so mental health being new to this, we can play a big role in sculpting this entire journey. For sure, it’s not going to just be in Singapore—this is definitely a model that we will want to play out in all the different markets where it’s relevant as well.” – Cassandra Loh, Intellect VP of Partnerships & Solutions

Fast forward to September 2024, as Intellect wraps up its 4th Mental Health Festival, an event that perhaps encapsulates the work the company has done not just to introduce another mental health app in the market, but also build new forms of distribution and access to mental health care.

7 Pillars of Building the Market to Grow Global

More than 4 years, 3 million users and US$20 million in funding later, Intellect has established a scalable product and a network with which to scale this network. What are the pillars of this growth strategy? 

We outline seven pillars in the rest of this case study. Sign up to our newsletter on the Insignia Business Review main page to get a downloadable copy in the next edition.

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Paulo Joquiño is a writer and content producer for tech companies, and co-author of the book Navigating ASEANnovation. He is currently Editor of Insignia Business Review, the official publication of Insignia Ventures Partners, and senior content strategist for the venture capital firm, where he started right after graduation. As a university student, he took up multiple work opportunities in content and marketing for startups in Asia. These included interning as an associate at G3 Partners, a Seoul-based marketing agency for tech startups, running tech community engagements at coworking space and business community, ASPACE Philippines, and interning at workspace marketplace FlySpaces. He graduated with a BS Management Engineering at Ateneo de Manila University in 2019.

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