Amelia Virtual Care, a Catalan company that develops virtual reality applications for mental health, has reached an agreement to merge into XRHealth, an American company of Israeli origin, according to its founder Xavier Palomer, who will be the world leader in virtual reality for uses therapeutics and that it aspires to be listed on the Nasdaq in two years. The integration has been designed by the Sabadell Asabys fund, so that the current shareholders of Amelia will receive shares in the American company, and the founder of Asabys, Josep Lluis Sanfeliu, will join its board.
Xavier Palomer explained that it is “a merger between equals”, so that the shareholders of the two companies will have a similar weight in the resulting company, which will be born with an annual turnover of 7 million dollars and a staff of 90 people. of which 60 are contributed by Amelia.
Eran Orr, founder and president of XRHealth, will continue as CEO while Amelia’s team will continue to lead the mental health division, which will adopt the XRHealth brand, although for a period it will coexist with the current one.
Guillem Masferrer, the Asabys partner who has led the transaction, recalled that the fund entered Amelia in 2019 and “we have managed to position it as a global leader in the therapeutic virtual reality industry”, so it will continue as a shareholder in the new company ” It has a long way to grow.” Until now, Palomer recalled, the company was doubling its turnover every year, although now the focus will be on the economic sustainability of the business.
Masferrer acknowledged that the difficulties that the venture capital and technology sector is now encountering have decided the company to opt for a corporate operation, which will reduce costs because the two companies will be able to operate with a single platform and increase the possibilities of growth with sales. cross between their clients, especially since XR Health is already approved by the FD and their treatments are reimbursed by public health in the United States.
XRHealth had so far raised investment rounds of 25 million euros, while Amelia, formerly called Psious, had raised 15 million. “The two companies generate cash and are well financed, but it is true that in a few years it would not be so easy to close other rounds,” acknowledged Masferrer.
The integration of the two companies, however, opens the door to listing it on the Nasdaq “with the horizon of 2025, when the capital markets recover,” Asabys sources said. After its recent capital increase, XRHealth was valued at 100 million dollars, and Amelia, with a very recurring business, has a similar valuation, which makes an IPO feasible, which is considered viable for capitalizations that exceed 225 million dollars. approximately.
Amelia has developed a virtual reality platform to treat mental health disorders, such as fear of flying, eating disorders, depression, phobias, and also anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The company has developed its programs in collaboration with the large hospitals in Barcelona, ​​which are now its clients, such as Vall d’Hebron, the ClÃnic, Sant Pau or the Hospital del Mar. The company has more than 2,000 therapists who use it , and the focus of its growth is already in the United States, which contributes 65% of its income.
Asabys, the venture capital manager specializing in health, is now marketing its second fund, Sabadell Asabys Health, which has already completed a first closing of 100 million euros, led by contributions from Banc Sabadell. The manager, created five years ago, hopes that the fund reaches 200 million and exceeds the 117 million that she captured with the first one.
