1

What was happening in your business that made this the right time to pursue the

Digital Badge?

As Kooth continues to expand our digital mental health services and work with health systems, government partners, and other organizations, we increasingly hear questions about evidence, clinical quality, safety, privacy, and how we govern technology responsibly.

For us, pursuing the APA Labs Digital Badge was an opportunity to have an independent organization evaluate the product against those areas rather than relying solely on what we say about ourselves. That external perspective was important because trust is particularly critical when you are supporting young people with their mental health.

The timing also felt right because we are continuing to grow and innovate, while being very intentional about maintaining strong clinical and safety standards. We wanted the evaluation to provide an additional level of assurance for our partners and customers, while also giving our teams an opportunity to look critically at the product and how we communicate about it.

Ultimately, we saw the Digital Badge as a way to demonstrate that innovation and clinical responsibility need to move together.

2

What stood out most about your experience?

Going into the evaluation, we anticipated a traditional, rigorous compliance audit. What actually surprised us was how deeply collaborative the entire experience felt. Rather than a rigid checklist, it was a dynamic dialogue with assessors who truly understood the intersection of technology and behavioral science.

The thoroughness of their evaluation challenged us to look at Soluna under a microscope. It wasn’t just about proving that our product worked; it was about examining how and why it works for the end user. Achieving the Gold badge wasn't just a finish line for us; it became a new baseline for how we build.

3

How has the Digital Badge influenced your business or your conversations with customers and partners?

It helps us stand out from a crowded field of digital mental health providers, gives us additional credibility around high standards and safety. When we've shared this externally, it is always very well received and people seem impressed by it.

The Digital Badge gives us another way to communicate the depth of work that sits behind our digital mental health services.

In conversations with customers and partners, there is understandably a desire to understand not only what a product does, but how it approaches evidence, safety, privacy, clinical quality, and responsible innovation. Having an independent evaluation helps us have those conversations with greater clarity and provides an additional point of validation beyond our own internal processes.

Internally, it has also been meaningful recognition of the work our teams have invested in clinical quality, safety, governance, privacy, and responsible product development.

We are still early in understanding the longer-term commercial impact, but we see the Digital Badge as an important part of how we build and communicate trust as we continue to grow.

4

What advice would you give another founder who’s considering applying?

I would encourage organizations to see independent evaluation as an opportunity, rather than simply a credential to achieve.

In digital mental and behavioral health, trust matters enormously. The people using these services, as well as the organizations deciding whether to offer them, need confidence that products are being developed and delivered responsibly.

An independent evaluation gives you an opportunity to step outside of your own assumptions and successes and have someone else look critically at the product. That can validate the things you are doing well, but it can also help identify areas where you can continue to strengthen your approach.

For organizations working in youth mental health, I think that external accountability is increasingly important. Innovation moves quickly, but the standards we apply to safety, evidence, privacy, and clinical responsibility should remain a priority