heyy, a mental healthcare app, today announced it has raised US $ 555,000 in a pre-seed round of funding. This is the first external fundraise for the company, and has been entirely led by Wavemaker Partners, one of the most active early-stage institutional investors in Southeast Asia.

Founded in 2021, heyy, operates in the preventative 'emotional first-aid' space, much before the issues become clinical or severe. heyy, has built a ground network of trained 'Helpers' – the first respondents in a conversation, who engage with aid-seekers for as many times as required, before recommending expert guidance, a company release stated.

"heyy,'s vision is to keep mental health care deeply human and personal while making it accessible for millions. It's well known that therapy is highly stigmatised, and while digital therapeutics have tried to fill the gap, it has come at the expense of a human connection. Our Helpers create an anonymous, confidential, and safe space for users to open up and talk about their deeply personal issues. This has helped thousands reach out and seek help already," said heyy,'s Founder, Ankit Malhotra.

heyy, has clocked strong growth on the basis of solid traction in its Enterprise and Consumer verticals. It has a renewal rate of 100% and 40% in the Enterprise and Consumer segments respectively. Importantly, between 10% to 14% of employees start using heyy, in the first month when introduced in the workplace, as against the 1% to 2% adoption seen for traditional wellness programmes offered by companies, the company added.

heyy, also provides easy access to online therapy through its app, with qualified therapists in multiple languages, such as English, Hindi, Bengali, etc. A newly launched product called 'Lifebuoys' – bite-sized sessions of recordings and exercises – has been developed with intensive research to help individuals understand their needs better and build more confidence and resilience, both at work and outside.

Angel investors include Monks Hills Ventures; Sairee Chahal, Founder of Sheroes; Deep Bajaj, Founder of Sirona; and Anjan Bhojarajan of HealthifyMe, among others.