Venture Pitch
Pain Point
Students’ stress, anxiety, trouble concentrating, and fatigue are products of a classroom environment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further increased stress, anxiety and for some a heightened awareness of positive mental health.
According to a recent national study by the B.C. Representative for Children and Youth, it was found that anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder and behavior challenges will continually be impacted by the pandemic.
For instance; the Kids Help Phone reported a 51% increase in texts and 70% increase in telecounseling since May 2020.
As a practicing educator, I see a huge need to develop preventive measures to help students deal with daily stressors.
Solution
A practice that can help overcome these difficulties is through mindfulness.
Mindfulness is an inclusive practice that allows for an optimal learning environment while strengthening classroom relations and culture.
We propose a mindful meditation app to calm and ground students through mindfulness learning strategies and coping techniques.
Often times, nature can help calm our senses.
As such, we want to bring the outdoors inside through our Cedar App
Our goal is to promote mental health awareness in BC Schools.
Differentiation
Our Cedar App aligns with British Columbia’s Curriculum.
In particular, the BC curriculum is centered around the three core competencies which consist of intellectual, personal, and social and emotional proficiencies that guide students to be educated citizens.
Accordingly, the Cedar app help students use mindfulness techniques to develop personal and social competencies. In other words, students develop personal awareness and understanding in relation to the rest of the world.
Each mindfulness session is accompanied by a lesson plan that fits with BC core and curricular competencies.
Cedar App uses LiDAR sensor technology to build a personalized calming environment with stable and realistic Artificial Reality objects.
This would be the first LiDAR meditation app that aligns with the BC Education curriculum in the market.
Marketing
Target users: K-12 students in BC Schools
Target buyers: BC School Districts
Championship
From an educator standpoint, I have firsthand knowledge of current mental health needs in schools. I am familiar with the target consumers/users/students.
From an online curriculum developer standpoint, I am able to incorporate the use of Cedar apps in approved district courses.
I have direct connections and relationships with multiple school districts/target buyers
Given my background in Biology, Psychology, and Educational technology, Cedar App will be continually advocated in my professional career.
Together, I have the passion and desire to improve the current wellness in BC Schools.
I am open to working with experts and entrepreneurs from other fields.
Competition
At present, schools in BC follow the BC School Mental Model and Mental Health Strategy.
In practice, there are inadequate preventive measures in BC secondary schools. Instead, school counselors rely on reactive and intervention measures.
Preventives strategies such as wellness activities are more frequent in elementary and middle school years.
There has been no unified approach to bring preventive strategies such as a mindfulness app into BC secondary schools.
Mindfulness fits well with Social Emotional Learning in BC Education which encompasses a recent focus on the First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL). FPPL is based on a respectful and holistic approach to education.
Recent studies such as Flett et al. (2018) found that mobile mindfulness meditation can improve some aspects of negative mental health in the short term and may strengthen positive mental health when used regularly.
Current Meditation Apps:
- Developed by the Mental Health Literacy team at BC Children’s Hospital.
- Offers simple breathing practice to guided meditations.
- Developed by BC Children’s Hospital.
- Free web app that teaches children daily stressors and coping strategies
- Student discount $9.99 for an annual subscription.
- Headspace does not have a presence in BC Schools.
- Calm’s welcome package is designed and developed to aid teachers to introduce mindfulness in classes.
- Similar to Headspace, there is no formal presence in BC Schools.
The closest unified attempt to bring in mindfulness is MindUP program. The MindUP program has primarily been targeted to grades 4 to 7.
Cedar App will pave the way for BC secondary teachers to introduce mindfulness in grade 9 to 12 classrooms.
The Ask
According to accumulative research, a simple app development costs $60,000.
We are in the development of the Cedar app prototype for iOS and Android.
To fund this initiative, we are applying to:
Crowdfunding through Kickstarter, Indiegogo, gofundme and etc.
Eligible grants:
Other financial engineering options:
Loan guarantees
Quasi-equity debts
Percentage of our revenues based on our Cedar App’s future cash flow projections.
Pooling funds
Flexible and adaptable to different needs of potential investors.
Social impact bonds
Payable upon the success of the launching of Cedar App in BC Schools.
Cedar App is a preventive strategy to help students develop a healthy mindset.
Through social impact bonds, government spending can be improved and private investors are paid back by the government when Cedar App meets its’ intervention target.
We are open to partnerships with interested parties to increase joint effort in helping BC students achieve positive mental health. For instance: Kelty Mental Health, BC Children’s hospital.
The Return
The mindfulness meditation app market is currently dominated by Calm and Headspace.
In 2019, Calm’s revenue was valued at $150 million and Headspace‘s revenue at $100 million. Together, they hold about 70% of the market share (Business of Apps).
There is an increased demand for mindfulness meditation app as the market is projected to be in the growth trajectory period.
The app development process is expected to range from 6 to 9 months. Throughout this period, the budget will be tracked to reduce app costs.
As with any startup, the risk of investment is high, we will provide transparent and constant updates throughout. If necessary, we will drop app functionality to fit budget constraints.
As we're launching a digital app, there are no manufacturing or shipping risks.
The Cedar App is based on a social enterprise as generated profits will be used for continual app maintenance and improvement. Our returns are thus, financial revenues and social benefits.
Since it based on a social enterprise model, we are asking for investments to be viewed as charitable donations, as the returns generate social and community benefits.