The success story of a platform that gathered millions to support mental health patients.

industry: eHealth, mental health tech, online therapy, digital therapeutics

services: web development, mobile app development, cloud services

technologies: TypeScript, React, Node.js (Express.js), PostgreSQL/Redis, AWS, React Native

numbers:

$16.5 M Raised in Series A Round

10k+ Downloads on Google Play

3 Years of Collaboration

Circles is an online group therapy application connecting individuals seeking emotional support. As a mental health tech startup, it pioneers the path for digitalized emotional assistance, offering guidance not only from professionals but also from people experiencing similar life challenges. We are honored to assist Circles in their exciting mission to unlock access to mental health care in the U.S.

problem: lack of access to mental health specialists in the USA

More than 1 in 5 U.S. adults, roughly 57.8 million people — a number close to the population of Italy — live with a mental illness. However, not everyone has the means to access mental health experts and receive the necessary assistance. This grim reality of mental health in the U.S. calls for a solution that not only provides Americans with professional mental health expertise but also offers something uniquely valuable in distressing moments: guidance and perspective from individuals who are grappling with similar issues.

the solution: online therapy platform for group healing under the guidance of a professional mental health expert

Circles is an Israeli startup that challenges the global problem of mental support tabu. Designed to help those dealing with grief, divorce, or simply seeking a safe space to express their emotions.?

After launching the pilot version, Circles approached our team for expertise in scaling their product in a competitive market. Initially involved in web development, we now proudly offer support in other areas such as mobile development and cloud computing.

With Circles iOS or Android app, users can easily join audio meetings led by mental health experts. The audio drop-in and drop-out functionality, crafted by our team, not only offers easy access to mental support but also creates a sense of community.?

We also developed numerous custom features to enhance the audio room experience, including user reactions, caller queuing, a call moderator panel, and an in-built chat. Beyond group therapy sessions, Circles provides continuous interaction with therapists and a personalized mental health plan developed by its experts.

challenge: adapting to users' growth

Circles are experiencing a steady growth phase, continually attracting an increasing number of users, particularly in the mobile sector. As the app's user base expands, it brings forth scalability challenges that every DevOps team must confront. Our primary focus is not just on adapting to these changes but on proactively preparing the infrastructure beforehand.

That’s why our current cloud computing priority is horizontal scaling which is a technique used to increase the capacity and performance of a system by adding more instances of the same component. By horizontally scaling, Circles will achieve higher availability, better load balancing, and the capability to handle larger user loads seamlessly, ensuring the best possible app experience for users.

Circles’ perspective

Kobi Avriel – VP R&D at Circles

We have found Bright Inventions to be a professional group of people that we feel we can trust, as an integral part of our company, not only to deliver the right quality but to be proactive, contributing from their experience to help us shape the company’s R&D and product. Their ability to source experts has been exceptional.

Bright Inventions is above our expectations, and we are very happy with both the great quality of people we are fortunate to work with and the professionalism that seems to be in Bright Inventions DNA.

the results of the collaboration

Notable milestones mark the journey of Circles. In their Series A funding round, the Israeli startups successfully raised $16.5 million. The accolades for their solution extend beyond the investor network; they are also widely recognized within the mental health community. Circles was honored with the title of 'Best for Group Support' emerging as a winner in the Online Therapy & Wellness Awards, organized by Verywell Mind . It's an honor to assist Circles on their impressive way to digitalize mental health.