Sign up for the Masawa Minute newsletter.
Explore the intersection between mental wellness and investing. Sign up for our biweekly Masawa Minute.
An extensive collection of resources and facts about mental health, impact investing, and Nurture Capital.
In short, everyone.
People suffer from depression globally. Women are nearly twice as likely to be affected.
In OECD/EU countries experience mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms.
Of mental health problems are established by age 14. Peak onset is 14.5 years.
In prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide in the first year of COVID-19.
Globally experience loneliness. Loneliness accounts for approximately 871,000 deaths per year.
Worldwide felt lonely "a lot of the previous day." 25% among remote workers.
All over the world, the difference between who needs care and who receives it remains vast.
Of people needing mental health treatment in low- and middle-income countries receive none.
People in the UK are 8x more likely to wait over 18 months for mental health treatment than physical health.
Global median of mental health workers. In low-income countries: just 1.4 per 100,000.
Projected cumulative cost of mental illness to the global economy by 2030.
Lost every year to depression and anxiety, at a cost of $1 trillion/year in lost productivity.
Cost of low employee engagement to the global economy annually — 9% of GDP.
Median government spending on mental health as a share of total health budgets — unchanged since 2017.
Per-person mental health spending in low-income vs high-income countries. A 1,600x gap.
Development assistance for mental health has never exceeded 1% of global development assistance for health.
Could be prevented across OECD countries (2025-2050) by implementing four key preventive interventions.
Invested in digital mental health in 2024 across 184 deals (38% YoY increase). Mental health = 12% of global digital health funding.
Europe's mental health investment gap compared to the US — a massive opportunity for dedicated capital.
Masawa Research
The evidence clearly suggests so.
Impact investing assets under management worldwide, managed by 3,900+ organizations. 21% CAGR since 2019.
Sustainable funds returned 12.5% median returns in H1 2025, vs 9.2% for traditional funds — the strongest outperformance since tracking began.
Top quartile companies in McKinsey's Organizational Health Index deliver roughly three times the returns to shareholders as bottom quartile.
Employers obtain a £5 return for every £1 invested in mental health support. Up to £6.30 for culture-change interventions.
Companies with engaged employees see a 23% increase in profitability.
Global employee engagement fell to just 20% in 2025 — the sharpest drop since COVID-19 lockdowns.
Cost of poor mental health to UK employers. Nearly 40% of total turnover costs are now attributable to mental health.
Employees at companies that support mental health are twice as likely to report no burnout or depression.
Of employers now offer mental health support. Mental health is the #1 wellness investment priority for the 6th consecutive year.
Of startup failures stem from co-founder and team dynamics, not product or market failures. Based on analysis of nearly 10,000 founders.
Startup employee attrition is triple the US average. Replacing a leadership hire costs up to 400% of annual salary.
Of entrepreneurs report at least one mental health condition in their lifetime, compared to 48% in the general population.
30% of entrepreneurs report depression (vs 15% general population). 29% have ADHD (vs 5%). 11% bipolar (vs 1%).
Of founders experienced burnout in the past year. 39% experienced depression. Only 23% seek professional support.
Explore the intersection between mental wellness and investing. Sign up for our biweekly Masawa Minute.