Kunal Pancholi had seen up close the challenges a family friend faced in getting mental and behavioural health care. Vinod Krishnan had in more than two decades in his professional career noticed a need and lack of support in areas of behavioural and mental health.

The two have got together to start a portal – SeekSpark.com – that they have positioned, in the words of Pancholi, as a behavioural well-being destination. The portal allows those in need of counselling on issues ranging from stress, anxiety, depression, relationships and work-life balance to seek professional help from experts empanelled by SeekSpark, according to Pancholi, Founder & CEO, Seek Spark Health Care Network Pvt Ltd.

Pancholi says the experience of his family friend got him thinking about doing something in the mental and behavioural health space. He spent close to a year studying the subject and also realised that there is a lot of stigma attached to seeking counselling, because of which many of those in need of help avoid seeking it.

SeekSpark, he says, provides these people an opportunity as it is an online only medium and confidentially and security are ensured. SeekSpark has empanelled nearly 230 experts who can provide counselling on a range of issues and it has about 100 live sessions going on through its portal, in a month since it went live.

According to Krishnan, Co-founder and Director, the portal connects those seeking help with those providing it, and facilitates the conversation through either telephone or video conference.

Those who think they need assistance can access the portal, go through either a “quick consult” session or put themselves through an “assessment quiz” to find out about the state of their mind, then decide whether they need counselling and fix up an appointment with the expert.

Nearly half the sessions are from those in major metros, about 40-50 per cent from tier 2 and tier 3 cities and a few from NRIs in the UK and USA, according to them.

SeekSpark has roped in Lakshmi Ravikanth, who has been in the field of counselling for more than two decades, and Laura Shields, who has been working in the field of mental and behavioural health for the past decade, as advisors. The experts are empanelled “on invitation”.

So far, the duo have marketed the portal purely on social media and plan to expand its reach pan-India and to Indians living abroad. The portal gets its income from those seeking help. The two have put in about Rs 1 crore of their money and will look to raise funds, from investors who have interest in this field, as they expand.

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