Wellknowlogy: 9/28/22

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A ton of early stage fundings this week. Two of them use music to heal. How different can their services really be?

An aspect of these early companies that likely deserves more attention are the methods and metrics used to form and measure their relationships with their audience. When occupying an intimate space in someone's life as a provider of care for things as intimate as mental health, spirituality, or fitness, the task is twofold: deliver a service that executes on promises AND an environment & culture that maximizes receptivity to the service.

This means not only developing a well-tested therapeutic method, but also creating a user experience that makes users feel comfortable enough to open up to the possibility of true change and evolution.

For meditation apps, this may mean a focus on the in-app experience, color scheme, vocal talent, music, and wording used; every aspect could contribute to or detract from one's trust and surrender to the teachings. For fitness apps, this could mean finding the right mix (or method of stratification) between users goals and energy levels: the jacked metal head and the smooth jazz 60-year old both deserve a service that they trust and can help them reach their goals.

Deep change results from deep comfort. I'm curious to see how UX can ensure this comfort and, potentially, be the differentiator between many apps that do roughly the same thing.

With that out of the way, here's what happened last week:

Fundings

• Music-as-medecine platform Lucid raises $3M seed round

• Innomy raises €1.3m to develop alternative protein sources based on mushrooms

• Bicycle Health announces $5M Investment from Cobalt Ventures to scale virtual opioid use disorder treatment

• Health and wellness startup Spa Space raises $10.2M

• bitsensing raises $10M Series A to advance wireless sleep tracking

• Limbo raises $6M for its digital weight loss tools

• Chubby Snacks raises $3.25M for healthier pre-packaged PB&J

• Medimusic raises £1.2m for medicinal music

• Arcascope raises $2.85M in seed funding to track circadian rhythm

• GlossGenius triples valuation, raises $25M to give beauty industry’s tech stack a makeover

• Cartwheel Care raises $3.9M to support kids' mental heath

New funds:

• Concord Health Partners close $150M Fund with eyes on behavioral health

Neat Articles

• A look at leaders top priorities to support mental health at work

• Health apps share your concerns with advertisers. HIPAA can’t stop it.

• CVS Health reports progress against goal to reduce suicide attempts among Aetna members 20% by 2025

• What is orthosomnia (and how can you find help)?

• Neuroscientist explains how diet can influence mood, behavior and more

• Psychedelic treatments face corrupting influence of financial interests

• The art of slowing down

• Can Mexico or Nintendo transform global mental health?

• Why do professionals rate mental health apps higher than users?

• Will digital technology for therapy increase inequality in america?

• New insights on brain changes and their effect on wellbeing

Market News

• Smart home gym fitness company Tonal cuts 35% of workforce

• Colorado will vote on legalizing psychedelic mushrooms in November

• Ketamine linked to reduced suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety

• Mark Zuckerberg: Fitness apps will contribute to the metaverse sooner than expected

• Therabody announces suite of new wellness products

• Accanto Health launches new hybrid mental health service ‘Gather Behavioral Health’

• University of Texas invests $16.5M for student mental health resources

• Wellable acquires fitness streaming platform Sweat Factor

• Megan Thee Stallion launches mental health resource website

• Feds awarding $1.6 billion in funds to address overdose, addiction crises in communities

Tidbits for You and Yours

• 5 at-home cortisol tests

• Articulating how nature nurtures the brain

• 3 Yoga poses for your golden years

Closing Kernel of Wisdom

• Explore the relief to be found in your insignificance with cosmic insignificance therapy

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Wishing you a great week to come.

Warmly,

Dayton