Company: Fika
Website: https://www.fika.community/
Founders: Gareth Fryer and Nick Bennett
Business: HealthTech start-up Fika, is named after the Swedish concept of taking relaxed time to talk with friends or colleagues over a coffee. The company is on a mission to move the dial on mental health through conversation, encouraging people to build up their emotional fitness.
Founded in 2018, Fika has designed an app that is a preventative tool against mental health problems, in the same way you might keep your body in good shape by going to the gym, you can keep your mind in good shape by using Fika. The app encourages users to exercise their emotional health, building up day by day.
Improving emotional fitness has many benefits include improved focus, confidence and resilience. Fika was developed with the help of seven psychologists, borrowing theories from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and solutions-based therapy. The app houses exercises for developing goal power, positivity, adaptability, confidence and relationships and can be used alone or face-to-face with a friend.
Currently Fika is working exclusively with UK universities, including Lincoln, Exeter, Manchester Metropolitan and Coventry. Focusing on students means that Fika can thoroughly test their product, before rolling it out to the rest of the world. Today, the app is only available for students of these universities, but we have our fingers crossed that won’t stay the way for too long.
