'Rephobia uses Virtual Reality to help people face their phobias': 20-year-old Northern Ireland entrepreneur wins global Unity Award for groundbreaking therapy app

A 20-year-old entrepreneur from Clady, near Strabane, has been named one of just 10 global winners of Unity Technologies’ prestigious Unity for Humanity award for 2025.

Liam Harte, a computer science student and Virtual Reality (VR) researcher at Queen’s University Belfast, is the founder of Rephobia, a pioneering startup that uses VR technology to help people confront and overcome their phobias in a safe, immersive environment guided by a therapist.

Liam’s inspiration for the app came from his own experiences growing up with OCD and a phobia.

He explained: “Rephobia uses Virtual Reality (VR) to help people face their phobias in a safe, immersive environment alongside a therapist.

"The idea came from my own experience growing up with OCD and a phobia. After seeing how expensive private exposure therapy was - and how long NHS waitlists could be - I wanted to create a more affordable and accessible way of overcoming phobias.

"Since founding Rephobia, I’ve become a VR researcher at Queen’s, completed an international VR internship in Pakistan, and built partnerships with therapists and clinical psychologists to shape the app’s development.”

This week Rephobia was awarded a share of the $600,000 Unity funding, with Liam’s project standing out as one of only two student-led initiatives selected from around the world.

“This is our biggest milestone yet,” Liam continued. “The funding will help us finalise and test our prototype, expand our development team, bring on clinical experts, and pilot Rephobia with early users here in Northern Ireland.”

Since founding the startup, Liam has also completed an international VR internship in Pakistan, become a VR researcher at Queen’s, and built strong partnerships with therapists and clinical psychologists to guide development.

His work has already earned widespread recognition, including winning the Catalyst Co-Founders programme, the What’s The Big Idea award, and placing second in Belfast’s “21 Under 21” entrepreneurs list. He also placed third in Queen’s Dragons Den 2025, was selected as a One Young World Scholar in Montreal, received QUBIS funding and Seed2030 support, and took part in Queen’s prestigious QUest Programme.

With the Unity award in hand, Liam and his team now plan to roll out Rephobia locally, refine it based on real user feedback, and eventually launch to the public making evidence-based phobia treatment more engaging, affordable, and accessible to people everywhere.