Half of people who need mental healthcare never seek it, and stigma and access barriers are a big reason why, according to Arcade Therapeutics CEO & Co-founder Raj Amin.

At the Civic Health Forum, Amin – a member of the StartUp Health community since 2021 – explained why his team chose the most downloaded app category in the world, mobile casual games, as the delivery mechanism for a clinically validated treatment approach called attention bias modification, developed through his co-founder Dr. Tracey Dennis-Tiwary's research. The games quietly build in psychoeducation and clinical data collection, helping identify the right care path faster while lowering the friction to getting started.

Arcade is already deployed with health systems and community partners like the YMCA, and is expanding into agentic tools to help patients schedule appointments, another common friction point in mental healthcare.