The reality is that one in three children has suffered mental health problems since the pandemic. During this time, many children became isolated and lost out on vital parts of childhood – the consequences are now being noticed. In 2022, we are now more aware of mental health and well-being and we are now more equipped to deal with it. It’s meant the demand for mental health services for children is growing rapidly.
Based in Berlin, Aumio is rethinking children’s entertainment to help boost mental well-being and the team has just picked up €3 million for its app. Partech and byFounders led the funding round.
Founded in 2020 by Jean Ochel, Tilman Wiewinner, Felix Noller and Simon Senkl, Aumio offers a meditation and sleep app specifically for kids. With playful exercises and mindful stories, Aumio helps children grow up healthy, confident, and less stressed. The app offers child-friendly entertainment in the form of meditations, audio games, yoga exercises, and bedtime stories. The app was developed together with experts at Freie Universität Berlin, and has been proven to help with issues such as sleep, stress, and concentration disorders.
It’s like Disney, but with medical backing.
Tilman Wiewinner, co-founder of Aumio, commented: “We are seeing a new generation of parents and educators who care deeply about providing their children with high-quality experiences and child-centered content. With Aumio, we are launching a new era of entertainment that is fun for kids but also mindful and beneficial for their mental health at the same time. We want to become the Disney for mental health”
Children have access to a constantly growing selection of child-friendly entertainment in the form of meditations, audio games, yoga exercises, and bedtime stories. Since its launch in March 2021, more than 200,000 families in the DACH region have signed up, with content available in English and German. The young medtech startup has also now developed content in Ukrainian, to help the children tragically impacted by the war.
The team has already begun to partner with leading German health insurance companies, including Allianz, TK, and KKH, among others. Aumio offers tailored content for schools and more than 900 teachers are already using Aumio in the classroom.
Jean Ochel, psychologist and founder of Aumio, added: “The market for digital mental health products for adults has been growing steadily for years. But there are hardly any offerings for young people. With Aumio, we have developed the first app that is specifically tailored to the needs of families. It playfully teaches children how to deal with stress, anxiety or sleep problems in their everyday lives. Aumio is the app I wish I had when I was a kid with ADHD.”
The market volume of the global digital health market is set to increase to around $640 billion worldwide by 2026. Aumio’s vision is to become the first global mental health platform for the entire family in the next five years. Going forward, Aumio will triple its team of 10 employees and expand across Europe and the US, and the team of psychologists, educators, and tech experts is expected to triple from its current 10 employees in the coming months.
