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With this app, children should find serenity
| Reading time: 3 minutes
The team of the Berlin health start-up Aumio who developed the app for children: Simon Senkl, Felix Noller, Tilman Wiewinner, Teresa Weicken, Jean Ochel, Steffen Scherf (from left)
Those: Aumio
Meditation is very popular with adults. Berlin start-up Aumio now wants to make exercises child-friendly. The application must also be used for therapeutic purposes. The interest due to Corona is growing.
D.The Corona crisis affects not only companies, but also the families of employees. The result is sleep disturbances, stress and concentration problems.
A common method to counter this phenomenon are awareness techniques: meditation, yoga or breathing exercises. But what can children do? A Berlin start-up has set itself the task of developing an app to playfully tackle anxiety disorders, attention problems and other mental illnesses.
The four founders Jean Ochel, Tilman Wiewinner, Felix Noller and Simon Senkl designed Aumio towards the end of their studies at the Free University of Berlin. Several research projects in psychoinformatics have been incorporated into the design, says Wiewinner in an interview with “Gründerszene”.
Aumio wants to playfully take the children on their journey
After an initial Exist scholarship, a stay in the Spinlab Accelerator in Leipzig, founded in March 2020, followed. The app has been available free of charge since May and is intended for children aged six to twelve.
The start-up currently has around 2500 downloads. A six-figure initial funding was recently followed by early stage investor Capacura and BACB Beteiligungsgesellschaft.
“Our goal is not just to make the concept of meditation suitable for children,” says co-founder Aumio Wiewinner. Mindfulness techniques should be combined with exercises drawn from cognitive behavioral research and child-friendly stories. As a supplement to therapy or when there is no support at school.
“We want to take the children with us on the journey in a playful way, similar to the ‘Little Prince’. Exercises are always only part of it, “says Wiewinner. Parents do onboarding, if you are looking for topics like” outbursts “,” shyness “or” sleep problems “, appropriate courses are suggested. After that, children can participate to game-like courses.
Health insurance should pay for the use of Aumio
The idea was initially to help children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADHD). The first three courses focus on the main symptoms of hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. The start-up currently offers ten courses and plans to add up to two new courses per month.
“We see a growing interest in Aumio because of Corona. The digitization of everyday school life is also increasing the acceptance of learning apps, “says Wiewinner. The app offers, among other things, a course specially adapted to the home office situation on how to manage tight spaces at home.
A freemium model will be introduced in the coming months. This means that certain content can only be accessed with an annual subscription. The start-up still does not want to communicate the exact price. Comparable apps have a price ranging from 40 to 50 euros per year.
Also, says the founder, collaboration is sought with health insurance companies. We are already in negotiations here. “We want the app to be certified as a medical product.” In addition, there are prevention courses that could be reimbursed by the health insurance company.
Some meditation and mindfulness apps are already available on the market. Probably the best known example is the million dollar funded start-up Headspace. The Buddhaboo app is also represented in the children’s meditation area, but does not pursue a therapeutic approach.
This text comes from a collaboration with the magazine “Gründerszene”. Click the links, exit welt.de and access the articles on gruenderszene.de.
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