Zion Tech: Our Israeli start-up of the week aims to revolutionize therapy access

JPost gives you a glimpse inside the world of Israeli start-ups and innovations. This week: Meet Talkspace - a digital, real-time mental health support app

By ARIEL SHAPIRA
Talkspace
Zion Tech
Welcome to our new technology pick of the week. In Zion Tech we will highlight Israeli start-ups, applications and innovations. Israel is a rising center of technology with more than 4000 start-ups active in various areas of our life, from e-commerce to finance, health, mobile and more.
In the last decade more than 700 Israeli start-up companies sold for more then 40 billion dollars. Investors from all around the globe are coming to Israel to search for the next big thing.
Talkspace
Israeli start-up Talkspace is making therapy accessible and affordable for people in need around the world. 
Living in Israel in particular can be very stressful, but an Israeli couple has created a new approach to mental health that is set to revolutionize therapy access in the Digital Age.
Talkspace is the brainchild of Oren and Roni Frank, who, after saving their marriage with couple's therapy, created a platform that supplies instant therapy in a mobile application.
The Talkspace app provides an anonymous, stigma free, affordable and comfortable 24-hour service that grants users unlimited access to top professional licensed therapists from $25 per week. 
"More the 60 percent of people who want to go to therapy, won't go because of high costs," Oren Frank said.
In an effort to eliminate the stigma associated with therapy and provide accessibility which is one of the biggest problems preventing people to get therapy, Frank added that Talkspace offers users a service via website and the iOS app to connect with professional therapists via SMS chat or video.
Talkspace recently installed two giant inflatable domes in the middle of Manhattan, New York City to show people that therapy can be accessible and affordable, and — above all — that it's nothing to be ashamed of. 
Passers-by were welcomed to enter the domes, plop down on the couches and dive into a free session with a Talkspace therapist.
Although an Israeli start-up, Talkspace raised $2.5 million in seed funding, has more than 50,000 users and is mostly used in the US.
Zion Tech Grade 8.5/10
Do you know about an interesting Start-Up that we should be writing about? Tell us about it at: ziontech@jpost.com