Aumio, a new sleep, relaxation and meditation app for children has raised €3m to drive market expansion across Europe and the US. The seed funding round was led by investment platform Partech and venture capitalist fund byFounders.
The team is aiming to treble its team of psychologists, educators, and tech experts over the next few months and develop new language editions. Currently Aumio is available in English, German and Ukranian – the company recently released a version to help Ukrainian children affected by the war.
According to the UK’s Mental Health Foundation, 10 per cent of children have a diagnosed mental health condition, yet Berlin’s BPtK (Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists) believes that as a result of the pandemic, one in three children now suffer from mental health problems. Results show that children are depressed, irritable, experience headaches or stomach aches and have trouble falling asleep.
“With Aumio, we've developed the first app that's specifically tailored to the needs of families,” said Jean Ochel, psychologist and co-founder of Aumio. “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."
With a vision for creating the first global mental health platform for the entire family, the founding team of Aumio worked in collaboration with psychologists and tech experts, at the Free University of Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin), launching the app in 2021.
Aumio has been designed with calming colour schemes – mostly blues, purples and green hues – and includes soothing audio. Young listeners are referred to as “Aumionauts” and can access empowering stories, mediation sessions and a variety of soundscapes.
"We're seeing a new generation of parents and educators who care deeply about providing their children with high-quality experiences and child-centred content,” said Aumio co-founder Tilman Wiewinner. “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.”
Since its launch, more than 200,000 families have used Aumio – and, having developed an “At School” section, the app is now it is also available in schools with 900 teachers using it in the classroom. Educators can follow the schools link on the Aumio website (aumio.de) to sign up for a free schools package – otherwise an annual subscription is €59.99.
"The trend shows that mental health will become as important as physical health in the coming years,” said Finn Weise, investor at Partech. “Aumio is helping thousands of families with mindful parenting today. After tremendous growth in the company's first phase, we are proud to be on board as a key investor, supporting its ambitious mission.”
