Theodoric Chew: a young dropout turns his anxiety into a million-dollar mental health movement
Once a sufferer of anxiety and panic attacks, Theodoric Chew is building a new mental healthcare system for all of Asia
THEODORIC CHEW SHOULD NOT EXIST. Not as a 27-year-old CEO and co-founder of a mental health app with three million users. Not as a school dropout who contributes regular pieces on work culture and mental health to esteemed publications like this one. Not when Chew himself struggled with anxiety and panic attacks all through his teenage years and had to seek help from a therapist – and still does.
But Chew does exist, and his startup Intellect has raised S$23 million in Series A funding in 2022, with backing from investors such as Insignia Ventures Partners, Tiger Global and Y Combinator. Founded in 2019, Intellect launched the beta version of its app in April 2020 just as the world was sinking into the quagmire of Covid-19.
Millions of people struggled with health fears, job insecurity, social isolation and the death of loved ones. Intellect saw its downloads skyrocketing across Asia, as it provided users with a wide library of self-care content as well as online counselling by certified coaches, therapists and psychologists.
Chew says: “I founded Intellect to help build a new mental healthcare system for Asia, with a mission to make care truly accessible for all, no matter how big or small one’s needs may be… Many people struggle with everyday issues that aren’t severe enough to warrant seeing a therapist but affect their quality of life, and many people struggle with more clinical needs that require care but don’t get to receive it. Paradoxically, the mental healthcare infrastructure had remained mostly unchanged and persistent in its barriers to access (cost, stigma, ease of access) despite this very high need.”
Though life for many of us has largely returned to its pre-pandemic rhythms, Chew does not think that the demand for mental wellness will recede: “The pandemic and its lockdowns were simply the starting point of a mainstream awareness of mental wellness, and we’re now moving to the early innings of mass adoption. Unlike other fads that come and go with the times, it is indisputable that mental health has become a critical part of a person’s health, and more companies are seeing mental wellness as a priority for their staff.”
Today, Intellect is available in 14 languages in 20 Asian countries to support its three million registered users. The app offers “culturally-relatable care” in each region; it understands that someone suffering from social anxiety in Japan and Vietnam would experience very different triggers and symptoms compared to someone based in Singapore or Malaysia. Meanwhile, the concept of therapy is still misunderstood in the region, because many Asians believe that therapy is reserved only for the very troubled – when it can, in fact, help strengthen one’s self-esteem and relationships with others.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Chew says: “I had the good fortune of seeing a therapist when I was 16, which helped me deal with my anxiety and occasional panic attacks. The experience busted the misconceptions I had about therapy. Ongoing counselling over the years has also helped me learn more about myself as a person, build a healthier sense of self and self-esteem, and work on better habits and behaviours… So, in many ways, I see Intellect as a personal journey to help as many people in the region to reap similar benefits from therapy.
“Today, I have a therapist as well as a coach, and I’ve only grown heavier in my conviction of working with a professional to work on what you need.”
Meanwhile, companies which have incorporated the Intellect app into their mental wellness programmes have reported positive results: after a three-month trial run at Foodpanda, 98 per cent of the employees wanted the app to be included among the company’s mental health benefits. At Schroders, almost 30 per cent of its employees became active users of the app within just two months.
“Mental health is on a spectrum and applies to everyone. It is not a black-and-white illness that you either have or you don’t. We all have small and big daily things we go through that make up our current state of mental health, and we should all be completely fine talking about and seeking support for it.
“If I had to pick one thing that I believe is an urgent task for companies, it would be that the management, human resources, line managers and others in positions of power drive a consistent message that mental health – similar to physical health – is supported by the company without discrimination, and thereafter offer the right support for it.
“Companies should know that it isn’t just about being competitive as an employer – but that happy employees who feel they are being taken care of make companies great.”
Photography: Celestial Tan Styling & direction: CK Make-up: Zoel Tee, using Bobbi Brown Hairstyling: Grego Oh, using Keune
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
