Founder of groundbreaking high street mental health service to speak at Enterprise Nation's StartUp Show

The co-founder of an on-demand mental health service, which tackles the problem of hard to access appointments, has been confirmed as a keynote speaker at StartUp Show, Enterprise Nation's huge small business event in London on 27 January.

Jodie Cariss started Self Space with Chance Marshall in 2019. The brand offers same-day mental health support from its four locations in London and Manchester as well as virtually.

It has so far facilitated more than 60,700 sessions and the business' team has grown from five to 100. Self Space has also supported the mental health of staff at more than 150 businesses, including RedBull, Omnicom, Papier, Huel, Depop, Google and Havas.

Self Space has today announced it has secured £2.25m in seed funding from purpose-driven venture capital firm Redrice Ventures. The money will be used to open two new high street locations and hire 75 new therapists, psychotherapists and counsellors.

Hear the Self Space story at StartUp Show

Jodie will share her story and advice during the 'how to build a business for the long term' panel on the keynote stage at StartUp Show.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2024, the Enterprise Nation event, taking place on 27 January at King's College London, features more than 1,500 attendees, over 100 speakers and 13 inspiring zones.

Also on the panel is Teddie Levenfiche, co-founder of Perfect Ted; Saasha Celestial-One, co-founder of Olio, and Sarah de Vere-Drummond, co-founder of Kip Hideaways.

Commenting on the £2.25m investment, Jodie Cariss said:

"Since starting Self Space, our mission has been to provide straightforward access to flexible therapy, offering a good conversation with a qualified person seven days a week, with no waitlist and same day bookings available.

"There are currently 1.2m on the NHS waiting lists for mental health care. This is exactly the problem Self Space was set up to solve. This investment will allow us to continue expanding and get closer to our mission."

Get advice on starting and growing your small business from over 100 expert speakers at the StartUp Show in London on Saturday 27 January. Book your ticket here.