Spotlight on: BFB Labs
Please introduce yourself – What do you do?
I am Manjul Rathee, CEO & Cofounder of BFB Labs
What is BFB labs? What are you trying to achieve?
BFB Labs is on a mission to build resilience in a whole generation by providing cutting edge digital therapeutics for better youth mental health.
We fuse immersing and responsible gaming with highly evidenced therapies to take therapeutic best practice out of the clinic and into children & young people's hands accessible anytime, anywhere. Our aim is to provide lifelong skills to children & young people to be able to self-manage their mental health - no matter what life may throw at them.
BFB Lab’s product/s are recommended by NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) and CE marked as medical devices regulated by the UK's MHRA.
Where are you in the social enterprise journey at the moment?
We are an early-stage enterprise which entered the healthcare marketplace with our flagship product/s in 2020. We provide our offer to healthcare buyers (such as the NHS) and local authorities across the UK.
What inspired you to work for/ create BFB labs?
Half of all mental disorders start by the age of 14, yet up to 75% of children & young people (CYP) don’t get access to timely, appropriate support. 1 in 6 CYP are likely to have a mental health problem. Anxiety, and other mood disorders, are by far the commonest problem affecting CYP. Globally, there are around 300 million children needing support for anxiety, of which 1 million are in the UK alone. There's been an 81% surge in referrals since the pandemic leaving services under tremendous pressure such that they have no choice but to prioritise high need, higher risk cases. This means most young people and families are left to wait or not receive support at the time of need which may encourage longer-term problems. Current models of support (for e.g., f2f therapy) are expensive, hard to scale and hard to access.
The unique opportunity to meet the unmet need for mental health support for young people in a way that is engaging, safe, accessible, non-stigmatising and effective is what inspired us to create BFB Labs.
Why did you choose the format of games?
Gaming is one of the most powerful ways to meet children & young people where they are. With a responsible approach, digital gaming can help democratise access, leverage scalability and minimise stigma when used to deliver instant mental health support.
What is VitaMind Hub?
VitaMind Hub is our secure online platform which can host multiple products in addition to our therapeutic mobile games, enable user management and provide real time data.
Why did you choose to join a coworking space/Better Space?
Our team tried out approximately 20 other coworking spaces across London only to feel somewhat dissatisfied (for e.g., noise, music playing, uncomfortable desks etc.). We felt at ease from the first day we stepped into Better Space. We appreciate how diverse and friendly the team here is. The space is bright, cheerful, spacious, not pretentious, has excellent connectivity and facilities (desks, shower, unisex loos, kitchen area, phone booths), a good range of activities and is social impact driven (this matters to us a lot). Needless to say, cleanliness is a factor the team definitely considered when coming back to work after having worked remotely during the pandemic.
How can people support BFB Labs? Are you recruiting at the moment? Are you looking for help with anything in particular?
Not at this point in time, although we have sought help in the past!