Mobio closes $1.8m seed fund to develop meditation app

Digital health firm Mobio Interactive has closed a $1.8 million seed fund to advance development of its meditation app Am Mindfulness.

Mobio said that the app, known as Am for short, is the first and only meditation app to outperform placebo in randomised controlled trials.

MI's Seed raise was led by the Singapore-based Verge HealthTech Fund along with Atlas Asset Management, Creative Ventures and VC giant SOSV.

Am allows users to quantify their stress through a special tool that includes machine learning.

When done before and after meditation training, the AI tool provides an objective assessment of which content is personally most effective for reducing stress.

The resulting content recommendations then ensure that the practice of meditation is optimised for efficacy, at the level of each individual user.

While the company gave no specific details about what the seed funding will be used for, CEO and neuroscientist Dr Bechara Saab said the cash would be used to grow the company and satisfy demand for the product.

The app is available to download from online stores and premium access can be purchased through subscriptions.

Saab said:  "No one - not me, not you, not anyone, anywhere - can be at their optimal performance 100% of the time. This fact is no different in the context of disease.

“Therefore, while Am has specific content for cancer patients and specific tools for people negatively affected by the pandemic, the focus of Am remains on better living for everyone.”

There are many meditation and mindfulness apps available that provide meditation practices on a smartphone, such as InsightTimer, Calm, 10 Percent Happier and Headspace.

The activity is becoming more mainstream following the work of pioneers such Jon Kabat-Zinn, who is credited with being the first to integrate meditation and mindfulness into healthcare with his stress reduction programmes.

Using these practices and techniques has been proven to help people suffering from a variety of chronic conditions.