Start-up given go-ahead for £250k project for mental health platform

Tech start-up Frog Systems has been given the go ahead for £250,000 project with the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) to use Artificial Intelligence and advanced data science techniques to accelerate development of its mental health and wellbeing platform.

Announced during Mental Health Awareness Week, the 30-month project is part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) funded by UKRI through Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency. The KTP will link Frog Systems with a recently qualified computing graduate who will be based at the company and ongoing academic support from a team of academics at UWS, led by Professors Naeem Ramzan and Zeeshan Pervez from the School of Computing, Engineering and Physical Sciences. 

Phil Worms, CEO of Frog Systems, said: "Demand for the mental health and wellbeing support our platform offers is increasing and this partnership will bring new knowledge and skills to our business to position us for rapid scale-up. The ability to embed AI and Machine Learning will make the platform more responsive for users and give our clients even greater insight into how they can allocate resources to provide support."

Frog Systems' online platform showcases videos of people sharing their life experiences to direct users to support services. Over the next two and a half years, UWS will help Frog Systems develop its content streaming capabilities through an intelligent recommendations engine and a video content delivery process. Currently users are matched to resources by key words they physically type in.

Dr Stuart McKay, senior KTP manager at UWS, said: "As an employer committed to the health and wellbeing of our staff and students, Frog Systems' message is one that resonates with us. Our award-winning AI and Machine Learning knowledge is being applied to develop the next generation of Frog Systems' wellness software platform; streamlining both content production and service delivery, providing greater insight for platform adopters and, critically, an enhanced end user experience."   

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships aim to help businesses improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology, and skills within the UK knowledge base. 

Dr Gerry Black, senior knowledge transfer adviser at KTN, said: "I am delighted to have supported Frog Systems to win KTP funding and am excited to see them working with their partners at UWS to embed artificial intelligence into their video-led wellness platform."

Earlier this year Frog Systems helped client Sussex Cricket launch a community mental health and wellbeing platform. The KTP project will develop the platform further as a fully integrated service offering for commercial, government and not-for-profit organisations in the UK and internationally.