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Soihtu DTx
Techstars '26AALTO, FI · Founded 2023 · 18 employees on LinkedIn · 3 known investors
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Soihtu DTx develops a clinical-stage digital therapeutic delivered as a narrative-driven video game designed to treat depression. The product is personalized using precision psychiatry principles and has been validated in large-scale clinical trials.
Also known as Soihtu
Founders & leadership
Investors · 3
How we know: Newfund Capital's portfolio page · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
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Company profile
researched Sep 2026Soihtu DTx is a Finnish digital therapeutics company that develops a video game-based intervention for depression. The product is described as the first personalized, precision digital therapeutic delivered as a video game for depression, combining a narrative-driven experience with tailoring based on precision psychiatry. According to a third-party company research profile, the flagship product is named Meliora, a prescription video game-based digital therapeutic for major depressive disorder that integrates adaptive cognitive training with closed-loop theragnostics.
The company positions the intervention as clinically validated in a large-scale clinical trial for effectiveness and safety, and as a scalable complement to existing treatments. Its team of eleven spans neuroscience, psychology, game development, design, arts, medicine, and commercial go-to-market experience, with founders described as a cross-disciplinary group of serial entrepreneurs, academics, clinicians and PhDs. Named leadership includes Prof. Matias Palva (Science Lead), Jukka Laakso (CEO), Sami Lehtinen (CTO), Lauri Lukka (Chief Psychology Officer) and Joonas J. Juvonen (Chief Data & Analytics Officer). Advisors cover computational psychiatry (Prof. Xiaosi Gu), regulatory affairs (Acacia Parks, PhD), game design (Noah Falstein) and neurocognitive/DTx technology (Tony J. Simon, PhD).
The company publishes peer-reviewed research alongside product development, with papers on engagement and dropout in digital mental health, user-experience measurement methods, game elements in health interventions, how digital interventions fit healthcare contexts, and clinicians' perceptions of video games in clinical care.
Founding story
Soihtu DTx was founded in 2023 following roughly a decade of scientific research, and is described by a third-party research profile as a spinout from Aalto University. The founding team is cross-disciplinary, drawing on gaming entrepreneurship, academic professorships, clinical practice and doctoral research.
Business model
The company develops a prescription digital therapeutic intended for use within healthcare systems, positioned as a complement to existing depression treatments and advancing toward regulatory clearance. A third-party profile classifies the revenue model as B2B with healthcare providers and patients as customers.
Traction
The intervention has been validated in a large-scale clinical trial for effectiveness and safety according to the company. The company reports a team of eleven, a portfolio of peer-reviewed publications, membership in three industry alliances, and selection for the 2026 Techstars & Northwestern Medicine Healthcare Accelerator. A third-party profile states the company has raised over €3 million in pre-seed funding.
Latest developments
In March 2026 Soihtu DTx was selected for the 2026 Techstars & Northwestern Medicine Healthcare Accelerator. In April 2026 it published a peer-reviewed paper on how mental health professionals perceive video games in clinical care, authored by Lauri Lukka, Veli-Matti Karhulahti and J. Matias Palva.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Soihtu DTx describes its product as the first personalized, precision digital therapeutic delivered as a video game for depression. A third-party research profile lists Click Therapeutics, DTxPlus, Hollo and Osmind among similar companies.
The company differentiates on four stated attributes: clinical validation in a large-scale trial of effectiveness and safety; an experiential, narrative-driven format; personalization using precision psychiatry; and scalability alongside existing treatments.
Technology
The intervention is a narrative-driven video game that is personalized to the individual using precision psychiatry principles. A third-party profile describes the product, Meliora, as integrating adaptive cognitive training with closed-loop theragnostics, and classifies the company's technology category as AI.
Go-to-market
The company is building a clinical evidence package aimed at regulatory approval, working with a regulatory affairs advisor toward an FDA 510(k) premarket notification. It participates in industry bodies including the Digital Therapeutics Alliance, the Sustainable Games Alliance and the BrainTech Alliance, and joined the 2026 Techstars & Northwestern Medicine Healthcare Accelerator, which is based around a US health system.
Patients with depression, including major depressive disorder, and the clinicians and health systems that would prescribe or deliver the intervention.
Geography
Headquartered in Espoo, Finland (Vaisalantie 6, 02130 Espoo), with US-facing activity through the BrainTech Alliance founding event in Palo Alto and participation in the Techstars & Northwestern Medicine Healthcare Accelerator.
History
Since its 2023 founding, the company has built out a research publication record, with peer-reviewed outputs dated from November 2024 through April 2026 and a doctoral dissertation on user-centric intervention design in January 2025. In March 2025 it announced three organizational alliances: membership in the Digital Therapeutics Alliance, membership in the Sustainable Games Alliance, and founding membership of the BrainTech Alliance. In March 2026 it was selected for the 2026 Techstars & Northwestern Medicine Healthcare Accelerator.
Risks & controversies
The product is pre-clearance: the company states it is building a clinical evidence package and advancing toward an FDA 510(k) premarket notification, so commercialization depends on regulatory outcomes. Funding figures reported by third-party sources are inconsistent, with one profile citing over €3 million in pre-seed funding and the same profile's data table citing $120k raised to date.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsPublication authored by Lauri Lukka, Veli-Matti Karhulahti and J. Matias Palva.
The company announced its selection to join the 2026 class of the Techstars and Northwestern Medicine Healthcare Accelerator.
Soihtu DTx announced three alliances: membership in the Digital Therapeutics Alliance (DTA), membership in the Sustainable Games Alliance (SGA), and founding membership in the BrainTech Alliance (BTA), whose founding event took place in February 2025 in Palo Alto with 60 academic institutions, specialized VCs and brain-focused startups.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Soihtu DTxsoihtudtx.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Soihtu DTx do?
- Finnish company developing a prescription video game-based digital therapeutic for major depressive disorder.
- Who are Soihtu DTx's investors?
- Soihtu DTx's investors include Newfund Capital, Techstars, Innovestor.
- Where is Soihtu DTx headquartered?
- Soihtu DTx is headquartered in AALTO, FI.