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Definition
Mindfulness is a fairly broad term but is defined as a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, which can be achieved by meditation, journaling, and other mood-tracking mechanisms.
Challenges and solutions
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1️⃣ How to retain customers once they're comfortable meditating? What's the value of the app at that point? Companies need to offer more than just meditation.
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2️⃣ How do you motivate users to use? Create incentives within these apps by making daily tasks, creating a structured program with clear goals, offering insights based on usage, and building a sense of community where users can interact and get competitive with their friends.
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Companies
- Description: Headspace is a mediation and mindfulness platform founded by former Monk, Andy Puddicombe, selling to both businesses and consumers.
- They gave discounts to students, the unemployed, and healthcare workers during COVID.
- They are now moving into digital therapeutics with Headspace Health, hoping to get FDA approval within two years.
- Funding: $53M Series C. $215.9M total by blisce/, Pacific Western Bank, Spectrum Equity, The Chernin Group, and others.
- Resources: Megan Bell on Stigma Podcast, Andy Puddicombe on How I Built This
- Description: Calm is a meditation and mindfulness app selling first to consumers and now to businesses with a heavy focus on sleep.
- They are working to de-stigmatizing meditation and mental health with celebrity partnerships (Lebron James, Harry Styles, Matthew McConaughey).
- They have a strong interest in expanding to lifestyle health, psychedelics, and partnering with/acquiring companies to do so.
- Funding: $75M Series C. $218M total from Lightspeed VP, TPG Growth, Insight Partners, Jason Calacanis, and others.
- Resources: Michael Acton Smith on Stigma Podcast, Alex Tew on 20VC
- Description: They sell mattresses, sleep pods, and other sleep tracking technologies in order to improve sleep and hence their consumer's mental health.
- Although not directly mental health-related, Eight Sleep's influence is noteworthy especially in regard to monitoring patient outcomes, which can be read more about in the Solutions page.
- Resources: Check out The Takeoff's interview with their Co-Founder and CEO, Matteo Franceschetti, to learn more about how they are changing the game of sleep.
