Fisher Wallace Labs is on a Mission to Transform Mental Healthcare
I had the pleasure of interviewing Kelly Roman, co-founder and CEO of Fisher Wallace Labs, a medical device startup that has raised $8M on StartEngine to date.
What motivated you to launch your startup?
The depression treatment market is in desperate need of better solutions, and having suffered from depression in the past, I know the challenges that patients face.
What is it that excites you about what you’re building?
The “Holy Grail” of depression treatment is one that is effective in the first week, affordable, convenient and poses near-zero risk. Fisher Wallace has developed wearable brain stimulation technology that checks all those boxes, and we are now laying the groundwork to scale that solution.
What has been your biggest challenge when growing your startup?
The pandemic has both raised awareness for mental health and expanded telemedicine use, but it was an extremely challenging time to run clinical trials. Fortunately, the FDA provided Fisher Wallace an extension to run a depression trial in 2022, and that’s when we obtained an extraordinary result that put us on a clear path to approval.
What are your future plans for your startup?
We are completing our Version 2 device called OAK this year that was designed in collaboration with the teams behind Beats and the HoloLens, and we are pursuing additional FDA indications beyond depression. Our thesis is that combining world-class design with multiple FDA indications will allow us to attain smartphone-level ubiquity.
If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a Founder who’s about to start their own startup, what would they be?
In this fundraising environment, it’s more important than ever to show product market fit — I recommend getting early traction with a minimally viable product to demonstrate traction. That’s what we did with our Version 1.0 device, despite it not looking as attractive as our upcoming Version 2.0.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
I respond to all comments on our StartEngine campaign page. Outside of that, LinkedIn is the best way to follow and connect with me — I honestly don’t spend a lot of time on social media. As we get closer to launching OAK, as a company we will be investing in building a strong social media presence — we think that is one area where our new design aesthetic will shine.
This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!
