INSIGHTS / News

Swindon based entrepreneur Rosalind Mann is part of a team that has launched a new mental wellbeing app – Saku Mind.

Available on the app store and Google Play, the app is an antidote to the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic and is based around five key ways to improve wellbeing – through connecting, learning, giving, taking notice and being active.

The idea was conceived at the CommonVC Coronavirus Hackathon – an online hackathon which brought together innovators to use their learning from the COVID-19 crisis to come up with solutions to mitigate climate change.

The resulting team which has developed Saku Mind is one that is spread over 3 continents, 6 time-zones and 7 nationalities. All with different skills and experiences but who have come together with the goal of creating a better quality of life for each other and the planet post-COVID.

Rosalind who brings user research, user experience design expertise to the team, recently took part in SETsquared’s Entrepreneurs Workout which enables start-up businesses to deep dive into their business model, value proposition, customer segmentation, channels for winning customers and revenue model, in order to build a strong foundation for profitable and successful business.

Commenting on the Entrepreneur’s Workout, Rosalind says: “As a business we’ve been very tactical in order to launch the app, so the Entrepreneurs Workout was a very timely opportunity to go back to the strategy. There’s a high ratio of mentors on the programme and it was amazing opportunity to be challenged and get some really interesting insights into your business.”

“I really loved the interaction with the other founders on the Workout too and many of us have stayed in touch. I’d highly recommend it to other Swindon and Wiltshire based start-up founders as it’s an absolutely invaluable opportunity to learn from the experts on how to set-up a business in a really effective and efficient way”.

The Saku Mind team’s objective now is to get as many people as possible using the app, to test it and to build a research community in order to develop the app further. Going forwards they envisage building in AI functionality which will enable the app to provide much more personalised content and wellbeing support and suggestions.

Rosalind comments: “COVID shone a spotlight on the things that were really important to us. We were denied access to the outdoors, the people we love and our communities. So, people went out and used their one hour of exercise to explore their areas like never before. We joined virtual groups to make scrubs for frontline workers. It really emphasised the importance of connection with your outdoor environment and your connection with communities. So, we’ve tried to build those into the app – like getting outdoors interacting with nature – and also the value of giving something back as a means of boosting your wellbeing.”

Find out more about the Saku Mind app

Spaces on SETsquared’s online Entrepreneurs Workout are fully-funded for founders and entrepreneurs based in Swindon and Wiltshire. The next one takes place on 9, 10 & 13 May. Find out more & register your place