ObsessLess – Building the Digital Support Layer for OCD

The Problem

OCD is one of the most disabling mental health conditions in the world, and one of the most misunderstood. In Europe alone, around 9 million adults live with active OCD each year. For many of them, it affects work, relationships, sleep, and confidence through intrusive thoughts, compulsions, avoidance, rumination, reassurance-seeking, checking, and the constant need to feel certain. The cost is enormous, estimated at €45 to €60 billion annually across Europe, but most of that burden doesn’t land inside healthcare systems. It falls on people, their families, employers, and caregivers.

People are already trying to get help. Out-of-pocket OCD support in Europe is estimated at €9 to €13 billion per year. Yet around 60% of people with active OCD received no mental health treatment in the past year. OCD care is too slow, too expensive, and too far removed from daily life.

The Solution

ObsessLess is building the digital support layer for OCD, not to replace therapy, but to make support available in the moments the current system can’t reach: before a first appointment, between sessions, after a trigger hits and the next session is still two weeks away.

Why Now?

Many people start searching for answers long before they ever reach a therapist. They look things up late at night, find communities, try to figure out quietly what is happening to them. Meanwhile healthcare systems are under more pressure than ever, specialist OCD care is hard to access, and many people never reach the right support at all. New technology makes it possible to reach people earlier and more continuously, at home, on waiting lists, between sessions, and in daily life.

What Makes ObsessLess Unique?

For many people with OCD, the first barrier is shame. Intrusive thoughts can feel confusing, embarrassing, or impossible to explain, and many people stay silent for months or years before asking for help. ObsessLess starts there, meeting people where they actually are: searching online, sitting on waiting lists, managing triggers alone. When someone finally understands what they’re dealing with, useful support should not be months/years away.

Meet the Team

Mourice Schuurmans is Co-Founder and CEO. He has 8+ years of experience building digital products, has lived with severe OCD himself, and built a 20K+ OCD advocacy community from scratch. He is also a member of the IOCDF AI Special Interest Group.

Adrian Pavel is Co-Founder and CTO, with 12+ years of experience in enterprise and consumer software, including previous roles at Shell and SoftVision.

Dr. Marina Gershkovich, PhD, ABPP, is Founding Clinical Advisor, a board-certified clinical psychologist and OCD researcher, formerly at Columbia University Medical Center’s Center for OCD and Related Disorders, with 15+ publications spanning OCD, telehealth, and mobile-app-supported care.

Follow ObsessLess on LinkedIn or visit obsessless.com to learn more.

Get ready to meet the Spring 2026 cohort of our Science Validation Program 🍂

🔸 ReduCO2
Team: Lotta Ternieten, Stefan Pitsch and Andreas Hettmann
Carbon conversion technology transforming CO₂ into durable raw materials. Designed to reduce atmospheric emissions while creating sustainable industrial resources.

🔸 ReFOLD
Team: Dr. Maarten Geurts, Dr. Else Driehuis, Prof. Ruben van Boxtel and Prof. Jeffrey Beekman

🔸 Subspacial
Team: Sagar Khavnekar and Jeremy Leitz
Spatial biology platform generating foundational subcellular data for advanced biological intelligence. Enables deeper understanding of cellular environments for research and therapeutic development.

🔸 ncPRIME
Team: Stijn van Breda Vriesman and Paul Schürmann
Biotechnology solution improving prime editing efficiency through chemically enhanced guide RNA. Advancing precision gene editing for more effective therapeutic applications.

Welcome all! ✨

Get ready to meet the Spring 2026 cohort of our Tech Validation Program 🍂

🔸 Abakino
Team: Sohail Afiat
An intuitive whiteboard-based graphing tool that lets users solve equations and visualize functions through handwriting and gestures. Built to simplify STEM education by making advanced math interaction feel natural and accessible.

🔸 Neurobian
Team: Andrea Gasperini
Cognitive safety infrastructure that monitors real-time signals to detect risk and provide timely, adaptive AI assistance. Designed to make AI systems safer and more responsive in dynamic environments.

🔸 Tagetto
Team: Pieter Snelder
AI-powered deal sourcing and pipeline management platform for M&A professionals. Continuously enriches market data to create dynamic, real-time insights for deal origination.

🔸 OmicEdge
Team: Ian Simms & Jille van der Togt
Multi-omic health assessment, tracking and lifestyle modification guidance.

🔸 VlinderAI
Team: Ashwin Bilgi
AI agent infrastructure that enables solo founders and small teams to observe, debug, and repair production agents. Focused on improving reliability and speed in deploying AI-driven systems.

Welcome all! ✨

Unlocking Mountain Water Data for Climate Resilience

There is no good data about water in mountains available; Hydrominds produces that data which helps to improve hydropower operations and helps investors and insurers to assess climate risks in mountains.

They are a climate-tech company that develops advanced tools and services to improve water resource management and disaster risk prediction in high mountain regions around the world.

They combine cutting-edge science, data and technology to deliver precise, data-driven insights on water availability, hydropower potential and climate-related risks. Their solutions such as their hydrological modeling platform help governments, businesses and organizations make better decisions around water, energy and climate resilience.

By turning complex mountain hydrology into actionable intelligence, Hydrominds supports sectors like agriculture, infrastructure and energy in becoming more efficient, resilient and prepared for the impacts of climate change.

Right now, their main focus is understanding the needs of the potential customer and obtaining initial funding.

About the team

Hydrominds was founded from a shared insight: the advanced models and data developed through years of mountain hydrology research could create far greater impact beyond academia. By taking a bottom-up approach, starting from real-world needs rather than purely scientific questions, the team is building practical tools for water management, hydropower and climate risk in mountain regions worldwide.

The founding team brings together deep expertise in climate science, hydrology and data-driven modelling. Sonu Khanal is a water resources expert and climate change specialist with over 14 years of global experience, leading projects on flood forecasting, drought risk, and climate resilience. Arthur Lutz, a hydrologist with 15 years of experience, focuses on mountain water systems and translates research into scalable, real-world solutions using advanced modelling, GIS and remote sensing.

They are complemented by Philip Kraaijenbrink, a physical geographer specializing in remote sensing, drone and satellite data, and large-scale environmental modelling, and Walter Immerzeel, a leading scientist and professor at Utrecht University with over 20 years of experience in climate change and mountain hydrology, recognized internationally for his pioneering research.

Together, the team combines academic excellence with hands-on project experience across Europe, Asia and Africa to develop impactful solutions for sustainable water management.

The founders, Arthur Lutz and Sonu Khanal answer some questions for us:

How does your background in (research field / discipline) shape the way you build this company?

We all have a background in research of mountain hydrology. Our shared passion for mountains is what has connected us over the last 10+ years, where some of us worked in academia and some in a small SME, but we always collaborated in one way or another. The background of working in an SME brings us good insights in how to run a small company, and also enables us to do some consulting work which enables us to self-fund our startup in the initial stages. Our research was at the highest level and now we also want to come up with the highest quality solutions for our clients.

What’s one early decision you’re glad you made even if it felt uncomfortable at the time?

For two of us one big decision was to quit our previous job completely to found hydrominds. This was a difficult decision to take, but also marked the start of this new adventure and enabled us to focus completely on the startup right from the beginning.

If things go well over the next 12 months, what would ‘progress’ look like for you?

If things go well over the next 12 months, we get some of the seed funding proposals we recently submitted, and have successfully piloted a first prototype of our solution with a hydropower company in Nepal. That should confirm that our value proposition is valid and we can move on from there. Ideally we are also able to expand the team by then to speed up things.

We are proud to share that Tim Sakkers, founder of ReveltaDx and a participant in the UtrechtInc Science Validation Program, has won the Young Innovator Award 2026 at Innovation for Health. The award recognises promising innovations with strong potential to impact healthcare.

Building ReveltaDx
ReveltaDx focuses on improving the diagnosis of heart disease in women — an area where current diagnostic approaches often fall short. By addressing this gap, the startup aims to contribute to more accurate and timely diagnosis, supporting better healthcare outcomes.

The role of validation
Tim participated in the UtrechtInc Science Validation Program in 2025, where he worked on validating the core assumptions behind his idea.

This phase is essential for early-stage founders, helping them:

• Test their concept with real stakeholders
• Understand the problem space more deeply
• Refine their value proposition
• Build a foundation for further development

Winning the Young Innovator Award marks an important milestone in the journey of ReveltaDx. It highlights how early validation, combined with continued development, can lead to meaningful recognition and progress.

Nestpod®, a UtrechtInc Tech Validation graduate, is taking its next step after a strong validation phase at the Negenmaandenbeurs.

During the event, the team tested their solution directly with users, mothers looking for safe, private spaces for breastfeeding and pumping. The response was immediate and consistent: the pod was used continuously throughout the day, with queues forming at peak moments.

Through conversations, observations, and feedback from over 170 users, one thing became clear:
there is a clear and urgent need for better lactation facilities, both at work and in public spaces.

Access to proper lactation spaces remains limited. While this is often seen as a “nice-to-have,” the reality is different.

A significant number of mothers are not satisfied with existing facilities, which can impact wellbeing, workplace experience, and long-term retention. The demand observed during validation highlights how actively such solutions are valued when they are available.

Following the validation phase, Nestpod has moved into real-world deployment.

The pod is currently placed at SV Kampong in Utrecht, where organisations can experience it in practice. At the same time, companies have already started exploring how to implement the solution in their own environments.

👉 Nestpod is now available to order, with a delivery time of approximately six weeks.
👉 A flexible rental option is also available.

Why this matters
Nestpod is a strong example of what early validation can achieve:

• Testing with real users
• Gathering actionable feedback
• Demonstrating clear demand
• Moving quickly towards adoption
• It reflects the importance of building solutions based on real needs and validating them early.

We’re very happy about this and always here to support such initiatives!

At the March edition of our Toastie Talk, Stefan explored the evolving trends shaping the Dutch and European startup ecosystems. Based on an analysis of six major industry reports (including Draghi, Dealroom and Techleap), here is what founders need to know:

• Strategic Focus on Deep Tech: There is a strong push from both the EU and the Dutch government to prioritize “deep tech”, innovations in quantum computing, biotech, and clean energy that require long-term investment but offer significant impact.
• Support for Academic Spin-outs: Policy is moving toward making it easier to translate university research into viable commercial entities, with streamlined IP and licensing processes.
• Addressing the “Valley of Death”: While early-stage support is robust, the real challenge remains scaling. UtrechtInc and its network are focused on providing the mentorship and commercial strategy needed to survive this critical phase.
• Shifting Investor Expectations: Funding is available, but early-stage investors are becoming more selective, prioritizing startups that can demonstrate clear value creation over mere product development.
• The Importance of Ecosystem: Success in 2026 requires more than just a great idea; it requires a supportive network of investors, experienced mentors, and a founder mindset that “plays to win” on a global stage.

UtrechtInc has been recognized in the Financial Times “Europe’s Leading Startup Hubs 2026” ranking.

While we are proud of this recognition, the real stars of this story are the entrepreneurs, researchers, and students who walk through our doors every day.

Our alumni feedback was a core part of the FT’s evaluation, proving that the support we provide translates into real-world growth.

“This ranking is a testament to the hard work and impact of our founders. It validates their commitment to turning research and ideas into scalable businesses that solve societal challenges. Incubators like UtrechtInc reflect a broader European effort to turn the region into a magnet for talent and capital, leading the way in solving the world’s most complex challenges.” Stefan Braam, Startup Incubation Lead at UtrechtInc.

This ranking is a win for the entire Utrecht Science Park. It validates our shared mission with UU, HU, and UMCU to empower our researchers and students. Together we are building businesses that solve the most pressing challenges in Health, Sustainability, and Education.

Would you like to be part of our community? Join our upcoming validation programs, applications are open now!

🔗 Learn more about our Programs