Being, a Delaware-based startup, is on a mission to expand its mental health app, which aims to help users create a map of their worries to better cope with their everyday problems.
The company was founded in 2020 by CEO Varun Gandhi and CTO Abhishek Sharma. The idea of Being came from Gandhi's personal experience dealing with anxiety growing up and not being able to find treatments that worked for him.
In the application you can search for any type of problem or feeling you are experiencing. For example, start with "I don't feel very good about myself today." Then add any additional things that are experienced, like I don't feel very good about my physical health. If you are searching for a concern that another user has not yet added to the map, a new entry can be created.
Once you add issues, you create a map to see an overview of the different things you want to work on. From there, the map will attempt to make connections to provide a broader idea of why you feel a certain way.
“The map is only growing as people increasingly share their problems,” Gandhi said. "People are moving from one thing to another and the map is developing all kinds of dynamic connections."
Once concerns have been defined, they can begin to be addressed.
Image credits: Be
Currently, Being offers three different ways for users to solve their communication problems. mental health. The first option is the mini interactive therapy sessions designed by healthcare professionals. licensed mental health focusing in aspects such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT).
The second option is an AI-powered daily session where you are given certain prompts to reflect on what is currently happening. When you start typing, the AI will ask additional questions. Gandhi says the app only features basic AI features because the startup doesn't want to try to replace legitimate, science-backed therapy with AI.
The third option is something Gandhi refers to as a “quick bite” of science-based psychoeducation that is aimed at people who don't have a lot of time to devote to the application but who want to quickly understand why they feel bad.
Gandhi believes it is important to approach mental health from the ground up and start from what a person feels without automatically labeling them or pigeonholing them into a specific concern like depression or anxiety.
"We don't wait for people to go get help, we try to address mental health from the ground up and start from where the person is at that moment," Gandhi said. "We started to see mental health as what the person is experiencing at any moment, because most of us are not well in different ways."
Although the company believes that its app is aimed at one and all, some people may find it a little difficult to navigate the Model of attention open if they are used to more direct versions of mental health care.
Being is available in both iOS y Android and offers two different subscription levels. The first tier costs $9,99 per month and offers a “do-it-yourself” experience, while the second tier costs $19,99 and comes with additional support and one-on-one chats with a mental health professional.
The company is currently in the process of closing a $3 million seed round; It previously raised two pre-seed rounds led by Multiply Ventures and Better Capital in 2021 and 2022 that totaled $1,4 million in funding.
