Being: A Mental Health App Helping Users Navigate Their Everyday Issues

Being, a Delaware-based startup, is on a mission to scale its mental health app, which aims to help users create a map of their concerns to better navigate their everyday issues.

Finding Relief Through Personal Experience

The company, founded in 2020 by CEO Varun Gandhi and CTO Abhishek Sharma, emerged from Gandhi’s personal experience dealing with anxiety and struggling to find effective treatments. This inspired him to create Being, a solution designed to provide support and guidance to those facing similar challenges.

Creating a Map of Concerns

The app allows users to search for and add any issues or feelings they are currently experiencing. For example, they can start with a statement like “I’m not feeling too great about myself today” and then add additional aspects such as physical health concerns. If a concern hasn’t already been mapped by another user, they can create a new entry. This way, users can build a comprehensive map of their personal struggles.

Connecting the Dots

Once the user has added their concerns, the app generates a map that provides an overview of the different areas they want to work on. The app then attempts to make connections between these concerns, offering a bigger picture as to why the user may be feeling a certain way.

Continuous Growth and Development

“The map is only growing as people are sharing more and more of their issues,” says Varun Gandhi. “People are moving from one thing to another, and the map is developing all kinds of dynamic connections.”

Addressing Mental Health Challenges

Being currently offers three different ways for users to address their mental health concerns:

1. Mini Interactive Therapy Sessions

The app provides mini interactive therapy sessions designed by licensed mental health professionals. These sessions focus on techniques such as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), offering users targeted support.

2. AI-Powered Journaling

Users can engage in AI-powered journaling sessions that provide prompts to reflect on their current experiences. As they write, the AI prompts them with additional questions. However, the app features only basic AI functionalities, as it does not aim to replace science-backed therapy with AI.

3. Quick Bites of Psychoeducation

Gandhi refers to this option as a “quick bite” of science-based psychoeducation. It caters to individuals with limited time who want to quickly understand why they may be feeling a certain way.

Starting from Where the Person Is

Gandhi believes in approaching mental health by understanding what a person is currently feeling, without automatically labeling them with specific concerns like depression or anxiety. “We start to see mental health as what the person is experiencing at any point in time, because most of us are not okay in different ways,” he explains.

Accessibility and Subscription Tiers

Being is available on both iOS and Android platforms and offers two subscription tiers:

1. $9.99 per month (DIY Experience)

The first tier provides a self-guided experience for users.

2. $19.99 per month (Additional Support and One-on-One Chats)

The second tier offers additional support and the opportunity for one-on-one chats with a mental health professional.

Investment and Growth

The company is currently in the midst of closing a $3 million seed round, building upon its previous success in raising $1.4 million in funding through two pre-seed rounds led by Multiply Ventures and Better Capital in 2021 and 2022.