Barcelona-based startup Amelia Virtual Care, backed by Sabadell Asabys, has announced its merger with U.S.-based XRHealth to become a global leader in the development of physical and mental therapies with virtual reality.
This merger, which is subject to the approval of the shareholders of both companies, has been led by Asabys Partners, Amelia Virtual Care’s partner of reference, with Sabadell Venture Capital as shareholder.
Xavier Palomer, founder and president of Amelia, emphasizes that this merger will create a new group with a turnover of more than US$7 million. It will employ 90 people, 60 of whom are already part of Amelia.
The group will have offices in Boston (United States), Barcelona and Tel Aviv (Israel).
More than 2,500 physicians are expected to use its disruptive therapeutic products worldwide, performing more than 500,000 virtual reality treatments for approximately 25,000 patients by the end of the year.
Palomer notes that a leading company is being created that is expected to dominate the market for deep-tech solutions for disease treatment in the next decade.
In addition, there is a possibility that the new group could be listed on the Nasdaq in the future.
Physical and mental therapies with virtual reality
Guillem Masferrer, senior partner at Asabys Partners, points out that this merger is one of the largest deals to have been advanced in the healthtech sector in Europe.
He highlights the importance of Barcelona in the creation of a leading global company with a disruptive technology that will benefit many patients.
Amelia Virtual Care has developed an advanced software platform for the treatment of mental illness using virtual and extended reality glasses.
So far, they have marketed this technology to more than 2,000 customers in 30 countries, including physicians, psychologists and hospitals.
These institutions pay a monthly subscription to access the images used during therapy sessions, which usually last between 15 and 20 minutes.
65% of Amelia’s revenues come from the United States, where they have clients such as the Army Veterans Association.
The Amelia Virtual Care platform
It offers 140 virtual environments and therapeutic content designed to treat a wide range of pathologies: anxiety, depression, pain, ADHD, phobias and eating disorders, among others.
Palomer describes his platform as “a Netflix for mental health professionals” and highlights the enormous potential of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET).
Its goal is to double its turnover every year.
According to Palomer, although virtual reality is a novel technology, it is backed by more than 30 years of scientific research.
The creation of a global leader in virtual and extended reality therapies will provide healthcare professionals with more advanced and effective tools to treat a wide variety of mental and physical illnesses.
