Company: Mirthy
Website: https://www.mirthy.co.uk/
Founder(s): Alex Ramamurthy & Dhruv Haria
About Mirthy
Mirthy, a community and activities platform for over-60s, has raised an £800,000 (~$1.1M) pre-seed investment, a year after launching during the pandemic and racking up over 35,000 users. Mirthy believes that all pensioners should be able to live comfortably and participate fully in society. However, too many over-65s in the UK (estimated 1.9m) face poverty and financial disadvantage which prevents them making the most of later life.
In the near term, Mirthy is reshaping socialising and pursuing interests so it doesn’t cost more to low income consumers. Through Mirthy’s activity platform, pensioners can host or take part in free and affordable group activities online, with audience interaction and socialising, from the comfort of their home. Activities include educational and entertaining lectures, entertainment and music, fitness, book club, and soon to be much more.
In 2022, Mirthy will develop the ability for users to facilitate and deliver offline activities and meetups in their own homes or local community spaces for other Mirthy members to attend, offering an accessible alternative for those digitally excluded. Beyond socialising, Mirthy has plans to launch a membership subscription which will use the bulk buying power of the membership to negotiate partnerships, discounts and deals with 3rd party providers of essential goods and services such as insurance, energy, food/drink, plus much more like freelancing/job opportunities and travel. Membership will cost a small monthly fee.
Mirthy’s goal is to become the go-to affordable platform for all pensioner’s social, physical and financial needs.
Co-Founders Alex Ramamurthy and Dhruv Haria, who set up ‘Mirthy’, share a passion for digital approaches to building communities for over-60s. Ramamurthy had been an Age UK volunteer, involved in social start-ups and was Chief Executive of The Care Workers Charity.
“While dialogue around an ageing population focuses on the growing burden on health services, my experience sees a generation of people with more energy, desire for life and time than ever before,” says Ramamurthy. “I want Mirthy to join you on this new journey once you are no longer in full time work, introduce you to like-minded people, entertain you, and keep you energised!”
“As my mom and dad approached retirement, I noticed how their wellbeing was being affected by their decreasing social circles and the increasing inactive free time they had alone,” says Haria. “Having launched several digital start-ups, I wanted to use technology as a way to find a solution to this issue for my parents and millions of other adults nearing or having passed retirement.”
A recent Mirthy survey showed 81% of users would continue to attend online events and classes after the end of lockdown. This supports Mirthy’s digital-first strategy for activities and community, even after the easing of lockdown restrictions.
