BfB LABS

What BfB LABS does

BfB Labs Limited is a London-based digital therapeutics company founded in 2015 that develops evidence-based, game-based mental health interventions for children and young people. The company serves three primary age cohorts through a portfolio of mobile applications: Lumi Nova: Tales of Courage (ages 7–12, exposure-based CBT for mild-to-moderate anxiety), Champions of the Shengha Pro (ages 9+, heart rate biofeedback training in diaphragmatic breathing), and Oshn (ages 13+, CBT-based support for low mood and motivation). All interventions are administered through VitaMind Hub, a secure online portal that enables clinicians, teachers, and wellbeing practitioners to manage users and track real-time outcome and engagement data.

The company's core technology combines clinically validated therapeutic frameworks — exposure therapy, psychoeducation, and biofeedback — with immersive mobile gaming. Lumi Nova is the first UK MHRA-approved mobile game for paediatric anxiety and received NICE recommendation in 2023 as a first-line treatment option. The platform was co-developed with the University of Reading's Anxiety and Depression in Young People (AnDY) Research Clinic, MindTech UK, and a BAFTA award-winning game producer, and is hosted on AWS infrastructure certified to ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and SOC 1/2/3 standards, with UK GDPR-compliant data handling.

Commercially, BfB Labs operates a B2B and B2B2C model. The VitaMind offering is sold as a bundled, multi-year subscription licence to NHS Integrated Care Systems, Clinical Commissioning Groups, schools, and local authorities, with healthcare professionals acting as activation-key distributors to families. Champions of the Shengha Pro additionally generates hardware revenue through physical game packs incorporating a heart rate sensor, sold in the UK, USA, NZ and Australia. Geographic footprint spans the UK (primary), Australia (launched February 2025), New Zealand, and the United States, with a dedicated Australia country lead and channel partnerships supporting international expansion.

Name

BfB LABS

Legal name

BFB Labs Limited

Website

https://bfb-labs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BfB Labs is a UK digital therapeutics company that develops NICE-recommended, MHRA-approved mobile game-based mental health interventions for children and young people, distributed through NHS trusts, schools, and local authorities in the UK, Australia, NZ, and the USA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pediatric Digital Therapeutics

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Therapeutic Companion Apps (Drug-Device-Digital Combination) (HLACANAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pediatrics & Adolescent Therapeutics (Digital) (HLACANAL), Student Support Hotlines & Digital Wellbeing Tools (EDAJAIAL)

Keywords

• Pediatric digital therapeutics
• Mental health software
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Pediatric anxiety treatment
• Behavioral health platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Healthcare Organization Licenses: VitaMind offering sold as bundle to healthcare organizations for a set license fee. Organizations receive licenses and appoint distributors across different sub-organizations including schools, GP services, CAMHS, hospitals.
2. Champions of the Shengha Game Packs: Sale of physical game packs including heart rate sensor hardware required to use the Champions of the Shengha Pro app. Available in UK, USA, NZ and Australia.
3. Lumi Nova Access: Digital therapeutic access for children provided through NHS services, schools, and local authorities. Currently available only in some areas via partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

BfB Labs develops and sells evidence-based digital therapeutic games (mobile applications) that deliver cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) interventions for children and young people. Its portfolio includes Lumi Nova: Tales of Courage (exposure-based CBT for childhood anxiety, ages 7-12), Champions of the Shengha Pro (heart-rate biofeedback breathing game, ages 9+), and Oshn (CBT app for low mood, ages 13+), all managed through the VitaMind Hub professional data platform. Products are licensed to healthcare organizations, schools, and local authorities and are MHRA-registered Class 1 medical devices.

Product overview

BFB Labs is a digital therapeutics company offering a portfolio of game-based mental health interventions for children and young people. The core product is Lumi Nova: Tales of Courage (CBT-based anxiety treatment for ages 7-12), supplemented by Champions of the Shengha Pro (biofeedback breathing game for ages 9+) and Oshn (CBT app for low mood, ages 13+). All interventions are managed through the VitaMind Hub platform, a secure online portal enabling professionals to track user progress and engagement data in real-time. The company positions itself as combining evidence-based therapies with immersive digital experiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Lumi Nova: Tales of Courage: Digital therapeutic game for children aged 7-12 years that helps build skills to self-manage worries, fears, and anxiety through exposure-based CBT techniques.
• Champions of the Shengha Pro
• VitaMind Hub
• Oshn

Products and services

• Lumi Nova: Tales of Courage Digital therapeutic game delivering exposure-based CBT for children aged 7-12 with mild to moderate anxiety. Includes gamified graded exposure challenges with real-world tasks supervised by guardians, and is MHRA-registered and NICE-recommended as a first-line treatment option.
• Champions of the Shengha Pro Heart-rate-driven biofeedback game training young people aged 9+ in diaphragmatic breathing for emotional self-regulation in cases of stress, anxiety, and frustration. Requires the proprietary heart rate sensor hardware bundled with game packs sold in the UK, USA, NZ, and Australia.
• Oshn CBT-based, gamified digital app for young people aged 13+ to lift low mood and manage low motivation by discovering and engaging with activities that matter to them. Available on iOS and Android.
• VitaMind Hub Secure online portal for clinicians, teachers, and wellbeing practitioners to create and manage user profiles, track real-time in-intervention progress analytics, and download engagement reports across Lumi Nova, Champions of the Shengha Pro, and Oshn. Registered as a Class 1a software as a medical device with the MHRA.

Quantifiable outcome

• 78% of parents reported an improvement in their child's anxiety after using Lumi Nova
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of Reading (AnDY Research Unit)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped in partnership with the Anxiety and Depression in Young People (AnDY) Research Clinic at the University of Reading. Clinical and academic partnership for evidence-based development.
• MindTech UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational centre focusing on development, adoption, and evaluation of new technologies for mental healthcare. Partnership for technology development and evaluation.
• South West AHSNminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth Equity Innovation Challenge 2022 - pilot implementation and evaluation of Lumi Nova.
• BAFTA Award-winning Game ProducercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-created with a BAFTA award-winning game producer for immersive, engaging therapeutic game design.
• Royal Australian and New Zealand College of PsychiatristscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLumi Nova recommended by RANZCP clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of anxiety disorders.
• Australian Healthcare OrganizationscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnerships with Australian healthcare organizations for distribution of Lumi Nova in Australia. Led by Duncan Fogg as Australia Lead.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Kooth: UK-listed digital mental health platform purpose-built for children and young people and commissioned by the NHS. Same customer base (ICSs, CCGs, MHSTs, schools), same self-guided intervention model, and the most direct competitor to BfB Labs' Lumi Nova inside NHS CYP pathways.
• Akili Interactive: US-listed developer of FDA-cleared digital therapeutics (EndeavorRx for paediatric ADHD). Closest analogue in regulatory category — prescription / regulated SaMD for children — and a benchmark for the DTx commercial model BfB Labs is pursuing in the UK.
• Limbic: London-based AI mental-health platform used by the NHS, including an AI therapy companion supporting IAPT pathways. Direct peer by geography (UK), customer base (NHS commissioners) and mission of scaling evidence-based digital mental-health delivery.
• Healios: UK digital mental-health provider serving children, young people and adults, with NHS contracts. Highly comparable as an NHS-commissioned CYP mental-health digital platform competing for the same commissioner budgets.
• Click Therapeutics: US prescription digital therapeutics company developing FDA-cleared SaMD products across multiple indications. Closely comparable regulatory and commercial model (prescription SaMD, payer reimbursement, clinical evidence) to BfB Labs' Lumi Nova and Champions of the Shengha Pro.

Broad incumbents

• Wysa: AI-driven mental-health chatbot deployed via the NHS, employers and insurers, with explicit youth modules. Overlaps with BfB Labs on AI/CBT content, NHS GTM and youth target segments, but operates a broader population and condition set.
• Big Health: US digital-therapeutics company behind Sleepio and Daylight, pursuing regulated SaMD status and US payer reimbursement. Comparable as a regulated DTx clinical-evidence play, though focused on adult insomnia and anxiety rather than paediatrics.
• SilverCloud Health (Amwell): Digital CBT platform delivered via NHS, insurers and health systems globally, now part of Amwell. Closest peer for population-scale digital CBT commissioned into NHS mental-health services and a likely incumbent in BfB Labs' target accounts.
• Headspace: Global consumer and employer mental-health platform with dedicated youth content (Headspace for Kids) and NHS-style partnerships. Adjacent incumbent competing for the same parent and school-customer budgets at a much broader scale.
• Calm: Mass-market consumer mental-health and mindfulness app with growing enterprise and NHS partnerships. Indirect competitor for parents and school budgets, operating from the opposite end of the D2C-to-SaaS spectrum to BfB Labs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bfb_labs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bfb-labs

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BfB LABS