Mental Health Technology as a Catalyst for Accelerating Trauma Healing in Israel

By Yael Pomerantz, Health Tech Sector Lead at Startup Nation Central, Esther Howard, Founder and CEO of Bezyl, and Gila Tolub, Co-Founder and Executive Director of ICAR Collective

Since October 7th, Israel has faced an unprecedented mental health crisis. The psychological toll of war, displacement, and prolonged uncertainty has affected nearly every segment of society—soldiers, first responders, families, children, and entire communities.

Mental health is no longer a challenge confined to specific populations. It is now a national issue that requires scalable, accessible, and effective solutions.

Even before the crisis, Israel’s mental health system was under strain. Until 2015, mental health services were not fully integrated into Israel’s HMOs, leaving behind a fragmented system with long waiting times, workforce shortages, and limited infrastructure. The sudden surge in demand for trauma recovery services is now overwhelming an already overstretched system, making innovation an urgent necessity.

For many, stigma and logistical barriers prevent access to professional care. Some hesitate to walk into a therapist’s office, others face months-long waitlists, and many do not recognize their need for help until their condition worsens. In moments of crisis, people need immediate, stigma-free access to tailored and scalable mental health support.

“When demand for mental health services far exceeds supply, technology is the only practical way to address this mismatch in a cost-effective, scalable manner across the diagnostic, treatment and administrative aspects of the workflow and patient journey.”
– Roy Wiesner, Partner, aMoon Fund

Why Technology is Critical to Scaling Mental Health Care

During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth services for mental health saw a dramatic increase, compensating for the loss of in-person care. A study by the RAND Corporation found that telehealth usage for mental health conditions increased up to 20-fold in the first year alone. Israel now requires a similar shift, leveraging its strong digital health ecosystem, AI capabilities, and tech-driven solutions to address mental health needs in real time.

“The integration of technology into mental health care is not just about efficiency. It’s also about ensuring that evidence-based treatments are delivered according to individual needs, and that they can be monitored and improved based on real-time data.”

-Prof. Jonathan Huppert, Founder of the Center for Trauma Recovery and Director of the Laboratory for the Treatment and Study of Mental Health and Well Being at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Mapping the Mental Health Technology Landscape

The Israeli mental health tech sector has expanded significantly over the past decade, with the number of startups quadrupling. In 2017, only 27 mental health startups were operating in Israel. By 2024, that number had surged to 116, reflecting both growing demand and investor confidence. As of early 2025, there are 117 active companies in this space. Despite this growth, most companies remain small with 85% still in early stage funding rounds, making this a young but rapidly evolving sector.

Investment in mental health tech has remained resilient despite fluctuations in the broader tech market. In 2022, private funding peaked at $160 million, even as overall tech investment declined. In 2023, while many sectors struggled, mental health tech demonstrated strong recovery in 2024, increasing by 66% to $123 million.

Key Categories of Mental Health Technology

The Mental Health Tech Map categorizes 117 startups into four key areas: self-care solutions, managed care platforms, workflow automation, and mental health research. Each plays a distinct role in scaling trauma recovery and ensuring access to timely and effective support.

1. Self-care solutions provide stigma-free and immediate support through biofeedback devices, peer-support platforms, and AI-driven therapy tools.
   
   

• Reflect offers a simple yet powerful way to achieve emotional balance through The Orb, a personal biofeedback device designed to help users regulate stress, anxiety, and overall well-being. By holding the device, individuals receive real-time feedback on their physiological state, guiding them toward a natural relaxation response within minutes. Whether used for meditation, stress management, or children’s mindfulness training, The Orb provides a safe and drug-free solution to emotional regulation. Reflect’s data shows 71% of users report reduced anxiety, 76% experience an improved quality of life, and 66% report better sleep.
  
  
• Dugri is a digital platform that facilitates structured peer support conversations to help individuals process emotions in a safe and anonymous space. The platform guides users through real-talk protocols that encourage open emotional expression and resilience-building. Dugri has been widely adopted in Israel to support combat soldiers, reservists, and their families, providing dedicated online communities for shared healing. The platform ensures that those affected by trauma have immediate access to a structured and judgment-free environment, reducing the mental health burden on traditional care systems.
  
  
  2. Managed care platforms focus on expanding access to professional mental health services through telehealth, AI-assisted interventions, and hybrid clinical models.
  
  

• XRHealth is running a pilot program providing VR therapy to Israeli reservists and their families. The program offers immersive VR-based interventions between therapy sessions, targeting reservists experiencing trauma-related symptoms—though not formally diagnosed with PTSD. More than 1,000 VR treatments have been administered so far, using clinically validated assessment tools to track recovery progress. Some reservists even brought their VR headsets into combat zones, using them in Gaza to manage battlefield stress in real time.
  
  
• Kai.ai is an AI-powered mental health support platform that leverages Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), positive psychology, and proactive engagement. The system guides users through personalized exercises designed to build resilience and manage stress. In Israel, Kai.ai is partnering with Reichman and Ben Gurion Universities to provide thousands of reservists with scalable emotional support at a time when traditional services cannot meet demand.
  
  
• GrayMatters Health has developed a brain-computer interface technology that allows PTSD patients to self-regulate their brain activity without reliving traumatic experiences. Using amygdala-based biomarkers, the system provides real-time feedback, teaching users how to manage neurological responses linked to PTSD. Clinical trials show that 67% of users experience significant symptom reduction, with sustained improvement continuing for months after treatment.
  
  3. Workflow automation tools address the critical shortage of mental health professionals by streamlining services and reducing administrative burdens.
  
  

• Taliaz has developed an AI-driven triage and prioritization system that has successfully reduced waiting lists by 85% in Israel’s trauma centers. By analyzing patient profiles and symptoms, the system helps hospitals and clinics identify high-risk individuals and direct them to the appropriate care level without unnecessary delays. Taliaz’s solution enables therapists and psychiatrists to allocate resources efficiently, ensuring that urgent cases are addressed first while less severe cases receive digital self-guided interventions.
  
  
• Eleos Health is transforming mental health care by leveraging AI to streamline therapist workflow and improve patient outcomes. The platform passively records key moments during therapy sessions and generates automated clinical documentation, significantly reducing the time clinicians spend on paperwork. By eliminating administrative bottlenecks, Eleos Health allows therapists to spend more time with patients and less time on documentation, leading to better care and more efficient therapy sessions. Studies indicate that patients whose therapists use Eleos experience greater and faster symptom reduction compared to those in traditional therapy settings.
  
  4. Mental health research represents the most advanced frontier of digital psychiatry, leveraging AI and biomarkers to develop precision diagnostics and personalized treatments.
  
  

• NeuroKaire is a biotech startup pioneering personalized mental health treatments by using a patient’s own blood cells to create brain models. This groundbreaking approach allows clinicians to test different medications on lab-grown neurons before prescribing them to patients, dramatically reducing the trial-and-error process in psychiatric drug treatment. This innovation could revolutionize the way PTSD, depression, and anxiety are treated, making mental health care more precise and personalized.
  
  
• Revealense is developing AI-powered video analysis technology that can detect cognitive and emotional states in real-time. Initially built for defense and intelligence applications, this technology is now being applied to mental health diagnostics, providing insights into PTSD, depression, and anxiety based on facial microexpressions and speech patterns. By enabling objective mental health assessments, Revealense has the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy and identify individuals in distress earlier than traditional methods.

Scaling Mental Health Technology for the Future

The momentum in mental health innovation must be met with strategic investment and policy integration in order to secure a stronger, more resilient future for all citizens of Israel:

• Integrate mental health tech into national healthcare policy to ensure teletherapy, AI-triage, and digital tools are fully deployed.
• Expand trauma education and awareness through digital psychoeducation programs and community support networks.
• Leverage AI-driven predictive analytics to detect mental health trends before they escalate.
• Increase funding for mental health startups to accelerate research and deployment.
• Foster international collaborations, using Israel’s expertise in trauma recovery to support global communities affected by war, disasters, and mass trauma.

About Us

Startup Nation Central

Startup Nation Central helps global solution seekers tackle complex challenges by giving them frictionless access to the expertise and solutions of Israel’s problem solvers – and their bold and determined approach to innovation. We call this Impatient Innovation. Our free business engagement platform Finder grants unrestricted access to real-time updated information and deep business insights into the Israeli tech ecosystem, enabling users to explore potential opportunities and forge valuable business connections.

ICAR Collective

ICAR Collective is a multidisciplinary initiative that brings together researchers, clinicians, and technology innovators to develop and scale evidence-based trauma recovery solutions. By integrating science-backed interventions with cutting-edge technologies, ICAR works to ensure that mental health innovation is driven by clinical expertise and real-world impact. By mapping the mental health tech ecosystem, identifying service gaps, and supporting the deployment of AI, teletherapy, and automation tools, ICAR is leading the charge in transforming trauma recovery in Israel.

Bezyl

Bezyl is an AI-powered, interoperable mental health platform designed to accelerate access to innovative mental health solutions. It curates and delivers personalized support toolkits for healthcare organizations and communities. Through its app and connected tools, Bezyl generates actionable data insights to drive improvements in mental health care. The platform currently features a toolbox of over 150 mental health companies, with more than one-third based in Israel.

To explore the full Mental Health Tech Landscape and discover the startups leading this transformation, visit Finder.