Circe secures £100K grant to scale AI-matched group therapy for women
What's the deal? CirceDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a women's digital group therapy platform, has secured a £100,000 grant from Innovate UKDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s Founders FactoryDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Biomedical Accelerator. Founders Claudia Radu and Gaurav Soo will use the funding to enhance the technology and widen access to mental healthcare.
Why now? More than a million women in the UK wait up to 18 months for mental health treatment. Radu and Soo are betting group therapy can close that gap without sacrificing outcomes.
What's the endgame? Research shows group therapy can match one-on-one care while cutting costs and easing loneliness — but scaling it requires expensive, time-consuming matching. Circe uses AI to build cohorts around shared life experiences and to deliver custom education and progress-tracking.
The product. Ahead of its official launch, Circe runs virtual sessions capped at 10 women, priced at £20 per week and led by licensed therapists. Current programs cover burnout and postpartum mental health, with an ADHD offering on the way. In its pilot, 92% of participants reported improved mental health after one month.
"There is an undeniable mental health crisis in our society, and we know that delivering therapy groups at scale can help ease that burden," said Radu. "With Circe, we hope to root mental wellbeing back into human connection."
The signal: The grant reflects growing public-sector interest in digital tools that stretch strained mental health systems. For femtech, Circe is a bet that peer-based, AI-matched care can serve women facing long treatment queues.
Read more: FemTech Insider
