Big Health UK

What Big Health UK does

Big Health is a digital therapeutics company founded in 2010 by Professor Colin Espie (Professor of Sleep Medicine at the University of Oxford) and Peter Hames, operating from a San Francisco headquarters and a UK regional office in London. The company develops and delivers evidence-based digital Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) programmes for common mental health conditions through web and mobile applications, with two core commercial products: Sleepio, a six-week CBT programme for insomnia delivering 10-minute sessions, and Daylight, a CBT programme for anxiety and worry using personalized techniques informed by GAD-2, PHQ-2, and SCI assessment scales. A third product, SparkRx for depression, is in clinical development, and FDA-cleared US variants exist as SleepioRx and DaylightRx.

The underlying technology is a proprietary digital CBT delivery platform with adaptive treatment algorithms that tailor therapeutic content based on individual sleep diaries, weekly questionnaire responses, and baseline symptom assessments. Differentiation rests on a clinical evidence base of 64 publications covering more than 28,000 participants, including 16 randomized controlled trials for Sleepio and the first RCT for Daylight — an evidence density uncommon in digital therapeutics. The platform is CE marked as a medical device, holds NICE recommendation for Sleepio, carries FDA clearance in the US for the SleepioRx and DaylightRx variants, and is DTAC, Cyber Essentials, HITRUST, and GDPR compliant.

The business model is a B2B/B2Government commissioning model with no direct patient charge: Sleepio and Daylight are provided free to patients, with revenue drawn from NHS England and NHS Scotland commissioning contracts (national funding in Scotland; Frimley, BOB, and South Yorkshire ICB regions in England), enterprise healthcare B2B licensing, and a dedicated partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support funding access for cancer patients. Customer segments split between patient users (insomnia, anxiety, cancer-affected populations) and healthcare system buyers (NHS primary care, integrated care systems, policymakers). Go-to-market combines enterprise sales to NHS commissioners with self-serve product-led growth via NHS landing pages, in-app onboarding, and clinical evidence-led content marketing. Investors include SoftBank, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Morningside, Octopus Ventures, Samsung Next, and Gilde Healthcare.

Name

Big Health UK

Legal name

Big Health Inc. & Big Health LTD

Website

https://bighealth.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Big Health UK is a digital therapeutics company that delivers evidence-based CBT programmes for insomnia (Sleepio) and anxiety (Daylight) through web and mobile apps, funded via NHS commissioning contracts in Scotland and selected English regions and through the Macmillan Cancer Support partnership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Therapeutics (Mental Health)

NAICS

Offices of Physicians, Mental Health Specialists (621112)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Behavioral Health & Neurocognitive Therapeutics (Digital) (HLACANAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Behavioral Health & Psychiatry Virtual Care (Payer Network) (HLALACAC)

Keywords

• Digital therapeutics
• Insomnia treatment
• Anxiety treatment
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Mental health software

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. NHS Commissioning Contracts: Revenue from NHS England and NHS Scotland funding arrangements for providing digital therapeutics to patients. Sleepio is commissioned nationally in Scotland and in specific ICS regions in England (Frimley and BOB). Daylight is commissioned in Scotland and South Yorkshire ICB area.
2. Healthcare System Partnerships: Partnerships with NHS trusts, integrated care systems, and healthcare providers to deliver digital treatments at no cost to patients. Revenue derived from commissioning and service agreements.
3. Enterprise Healthcare B2B: Licensing and partnership agreements with healthcare organizations including Macmillan Cancer Support to provide digital treatments to specific patient populations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Big Health UK develops and distributes evidence-based digital therapeutic programs — Sleepio for insomnia and Daylight for generalized anxiety — which deliver automated, self-guided cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) via web and mobile applications. The products are commissioned by NHS bodies and integrated care boards across the UK, providing patients with clinician-recommended digital CBT at no direct cost while enabling population-level outcomes reporting for healthcare commissioners.

Product overview

Big Health UK offers a portfolio of digital therapeutics (DTx) for common mental health conditions. The core products are Sleepio (digital CBT for insomnia) and Daylight (digital CBT for anxiety), both delivered via app or online programme. The company also developed SparkRx for depression. SleepioRx and DaylightRx are FDA-cleared versions for the US market. All treatments are drug-free, clinically proven alternatives to medication, providing personalised CBT programmes that users can access at their own pace.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sleepio: A clinically proven, NHS-funded six-week CBT programme for treating insomnia. Delivers 10-minute cognitive behavioural therapy sessions to treat insomnia.
• Daylight

Products and services

• Sleepio
• Daylight

Quantifiable outcome

• 76% of poor sleepers achieved healthy sleep after using Sleepio (clinical improvement rate)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 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

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and secondary.

• NHS England (Frimley and BOB ICS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Regional NHS commissioning in Frimley and Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Berkshire West Integrated Care Systems for Sleepio delivery.
• Macmillan Cancer SupportcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partnership launched in 2022 to fund Sleepio and Daylight for cancer patients and their families. Provides free access to digital mental health support for those affected by cancer.
• NHS ScotlandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021National funding and commissioning agreement making Sleepio and Daylight available free to all Scottish residents. Ongoing national contract providing population-wide access to digital mental health treatments.
• Boots PharmacyminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2012Sleepio launched in Boots Pharmacy in 2012 as a physical prescription-only product before evolving to digital-first distribution.
• South Yorkshire ICBsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerDaylight Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) taking place in the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area.
• University of OxfordcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership with Professor Colin Espie (Professor of Sleep Medicine at University of Oxford) who co-founded the company and serves as Chief Scientist.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• BetterHelp: BetterHelp is a major online therapy platform connecting users with licensed therapists. While its model is human-led rather than digital CBT, it competes for the same anxious and sleep-disturbed consumer segment.
• Talkspace: Talkspace provides online therapy and mental health services through employer and payer partnerships. It is an adjacent peer with overlapping payer relationships, though its core delivery is human-led therapy rather than automated digital CBT.
• Lyra Health: Lyra Health is a mental health benefits platform for employers offering therapy, coaching, and digital tools. It competes with Big Health for employer and payer mental health budgets, particularly in the US market.

Direct peers

• Limbic: UK-based Limbic provides AI-driven mental health tools deployed via the NHS, including self-referral and triage products. It is a direct peer in NHS-funded digital mental health, with overlapping UK payer relationships.
• Calm: Calm is a direct competitor in the consumer sleep and mental wellness category, with sleep stories, meditation, and employer partnerships. It competes with Sleepio for the same broad sleep-disturbed population, though without Big Health's clinical-evidence depth.
• Akili Interactive: Akili Interactive is a prescription digital therapeutics company with FDA-cleared, clinically validated products for cognitive and mental health conditions. Direct peer in the FDA-cleared DTx category competing for payer and provider contracts.
• SilverCloud Health (Amwell): SilverCloud Health, now part of Amwell, is a direct peer offering digital CBT programmes for mental health including insomnia and anxiety, and competes with Big Health for NHS, payer, and employer contracts globally.
• Wysa: Wysa is an AI-driven mental health chatbot with NHS deployments and a focus on anxiety and depression. It is a direct peer in digital mental health for NHS and employer channels, particularly in the UK.
• Woebot Health: Woebot Health delivers an AI-based therapeutic chatbot for mental health, with product overlap in CBT-style interventions for anxiety and depression. Direct peer in the digital therapeutic mental health category.
• Headspace Health: Headspace Health (Headspace + Ginger) is a direct peer delivering digital mental health, including sleep and anxiety support, with employer and health-plan distribution. Both compete for digital mental-health mindshare and similar employer/payer partnerships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bighealthuk

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Big Health UK