ESG Investing at SHS: Part 3
ESG investing in practice
After explaining the topic in principle in Parts 1 and 2 of the series “ESG Investing” and showing how ESG investing is anchored throughout at SHS, today we describe two examples from the SHS portfolio.
The “S” in the abbreviation ESG investing stands for “social”. This refers to social goals that are to be achieved with an investment – in the sense of so-called “social responsibility investing”. This can concern safety, social aspects or even health. As a specialised healthcare investor, SHS focuses on the latter. An important goal of investing in companies is to improve the health and well-being of as many people as possible with the help of innovations or services. Two examples illustrate what this can look like in concrete terms.
Help with mental illness: Selfapy
The growth company Selfapy has been in the SHS portfolio for just over a year. After close examination, SHS invested a significant amount from the SHS V fund in the Berlin-based company, which was founded in 2016 by the psychologists Nora Blum and Katrin Bermbach. Selfapy now employs 65 people, more than 20 of whom have a degree in psychology. Selfapy’s corporate goal is to help people with depression or anxiety disorders as quickly and easily as possible with the Selfapy app.
It is important to bear in mind that almost 18 million people in Germany alone suffer from a mental illness, which is around 27.8% of adults, according to the German Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Neurology. The most common disorders these people suffer from include depression and anxiety disorders. In Germany, 5.3 million people suffer from depression, which is 8.2% of the German population. About 12 million Germans suffer from an anxiety disorder. The German Society for Anxiety Research assumes that half of the anxiety disorders are not recognised and therefore not treated properly. Yet the suffering and the associated restrictions on the quality of life for patients are considerable. The social stigmatisation experienced by those affected should also not be underestimated. All in all, this is an unsatisfactory situation. In addition, the average waiting time for an outpatient therapy place in Germany is between three and six months.
This is where the Selfapy offer comes in. And this offer is being accepted. More than 35,000 people have already taken Selfapy online courses, especially the twelve-week online course for depression, which has been available free of charge on prescription since the end of 2020. This is made possible by the Digital Health Care Act (DVG). Recently, the Selfapy online courses for generalised anxiety and panic have also been available free of charge on prescription. This is also good news for those affected, who can be offered help as a first step.
And even though the Selfapy founders emphasise that their online courses cannot replace classic psychotherapy, the app is an important support for many sufferers. For example, when it comes to bridging the long waiting time until therapy. Incidentally, clinical study results attest to the Selfapy app’s proven effectiveness in combating depression symptoms.
More information about Selfapy: www.selfapy.de
Regain quality of life: Rehab with Tyromotion
Stroke, accident, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries: these are events that we all fear, but which can affect each and every one of us. In Germany alone, around 270,000 people suffer a stroke every year (source: Deutsche Schlaganfallhilfe) and, according to experts, this number will continue to rise. This is not good news, because a stroke is the most common cause of disability in adults. Optimal rehabilitation training tailored to the patient is therefore extremely important so that the patient can regain quality of life and freedom of movement, and do so under his or her own steam. Inpatient and later outpatient rehab, including targeted exercises at home, is important for regaining everyday skills such as independent dressing or eating and drinking: Tyromotion supports those affected throughout this entire journey to guarantee the most effective rehab process possible.
David Ram and Alexander Kollreider founded Tyromotion GmbH in 2007 in Graz, Austria. The deciding factors were private strokes of fate and the aspiration to decisively improve the independence and quality of life of patients worldwide with technology-supported therapy devices. In 2016, SHS invested a significant amount in Tyromotion from its Fund IV, as this company meets all the requirements for ESG investing.
Today, Tyromotion develops rehabilitation systems for the upper and lower extremities of humans with more than 85 employees. More than 3,500 Tyromotion devices are currently being used successfully in 55 countries for optimum rehabilitation care for the above-mentioned diseases or in the aftercare of accidents. Tyromotion systems are not normal rehabilitation devices, but become inspiring and motivating partners through the targeted use of modern technologies (robotics, sensor technology, virtual reality, gamification) – for the patient as well as for the doctor and the physiotherapist. The primary goal is to enable as many affected people as possible to live largely independently in everyday life, ideally at home.
More information about Tyromotion: www.tyromotion.com
ESG investing pays off – for investors too
Selfapy and Tyromotion help patients achieve a better quality of life with their products! And both companies are a good investment for the investors of the SHS funds in terms of the “Double Bottom Goal”. Because a good financial return is accompanied by a strong impact in the social sphere.