This Startup Just Raised $6 Million For An App That Helps Treat Addiction – Forbes

Jair Hilburn writes in Forbes about Affect’s successful close of a funding round to bring its stimulant addiction treatment smartphone app to market. Read more below:

Affect Therapeutics, a company working to treat stimulant use disorder through mobile technology, announced Tuesday that it has raised $6 million in a seed investment round. Investors in the round include City Light Capital, Kapor Capital, Acumen, and AlleyCorp.

This healthcare startup utilizes a digital app alongside group therapy, individual counseling, drug screening and other services to treat those dealing with stimulant use disorder – which involves the abuse of drugs such as methamphetamine and cocaine. The company’s app uses game design theory and monetary incentives to maintain retention and keep its members engaged throughout the process as the company monitors any changes in behavior. Affect’s app also builds a personalized experience for users to receive any tools and incentives that they will need. In effect, it gamifies addiction treatment.

“The research for various stimulant use disorders has really focused on what is known as contingency management, which are incentives,” cofounder and CEO of Affect Therapeutics, Kristin Muhlner says. “What we’re looking to try to do in leveraging contingency management is to reignite the reward system in the brain, right after the drug has been eliminated.”

The article continues at Forbes…