News

JIC Venture Growth Investments (VGI) has acquired shares in BiPSEE, Inc. (BiPSEE), through its JIC Venture Growth Fund 2.

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BiPSEE is a medtech startup aiming to bring digital therapies that utilize VR (Virtual Reality) and AI into widespread social use. Their lead product for depression, has shown a reduction in depression scores in an exploratory clinical trial, and a confirmatory clinical trial is currently being planned to support an application for medical device approval. Although various medications are available for depression, only one in three patients achieves remission with the first antidepressant prescribed, creating a need for treatments that complement drug therapy. Furthermore, while psychotherapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy exist, challenges such as the length of treatment sessions mean that the implementation rate at psychiatric clinics in Japan remains at only a few percent, creating a need for methods that reduce the burden on clinical practitioners.

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The significance of this investment is to support clinical development at BiPSEE and aim to provide new treatment options for people suffering from depression.

With more than 300 million people worldwide suffering from depression and the economic cost estimated to reach approximately 250 trillion yen, the societal implementation of the digital therapeutics being developed by BiPSEE is expected to contribute to the realization of a healthy and longevity society.

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With this investment, VGI will accelerate the social implementation of digital therapies utilizing VR and AI and contribute to the activation of the venture ecosystem through support for medtech startups originating from Japan.

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^{The information contained in this notice is current at the time of publication and subject to change without notice.}