When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the scale of human suffering was immediate and visible. But alongside the physical toll, a second crisis was quietly taking hold – one that overwhelm an already stretched mental health system.
Responding to a looming mental health crisis, Aspichi, co-founded by CEO Viktor Samoilenko, developed a platform called Luminify that allows a single therapist to run up to 30 simultaneous VR therapy sessions.
Using a mobile application to control multiple headsets remotely, clinicians can deliver evidence-based therapeutic practices – including mindfulness, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) – to large groups of patients at once.
Samoilenko, a software engineer turned entrepreneur with a previous exit in the automotive industry, founded Aspichi in late 2021 with plans to build a 360 video and VR development company.
Within a week of establishing a base in Ukraine, Russia launched its full-scale invasion – and the business pivoted entirely.
“We are coping with the resource bottleneck in the psychology and psychiatric area,” Samoilenko told UC Today.
“We were anticipating that if the war continued for three or four years, we would have the whole population traumatised. And that’s exactly what we have right now.”
The platform works by replacing a patient’s stressful environment with immersive 360-degree video of peaceful surroundings, guiding users through therapeutic exercises via voiceover while incorporating interactive visual elements to support breathwork and focus techniques.
Having built significant traction in Ukraine – with over one million sessions delivered across more than 65 customers – Aspichi is now expanding into the United States. The company is initially targeting assisted living facilities, nursing homes and acute care settings, where large numbers of patients with limited mobility can benefit from accessible, scalable mental health support.
Looking ahead, Samoilenko sees the platform evolving into a broader infrastructure layer for the global mental health industry, with expansion planned across the Gulf region, Japan, South Korea and Europe.
“On average in well-developed countries, approximately 30 percent of the population are suffering from mental disorders,” he said. “That is the area where we want to help the world to be a better place to live.”
