Brazilian Startup Grows by Promoting Meditation in Companies

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The stress of corporate life led friends Alexandre Ayres and Wagner Lima to do business together. In 2018, leaving their careers in the financial and  technology market, respectively, they decided to found a startup that would help improve the working environment of Brazilian companies through meditation. Thus, MindSelf was born.

As a “meditation Gympass”, the startup provides its clients with corporate meditation and mindfulness programs. The founders have been practicing the technique for years and decided to develop a method that could be applied in different work environments. During its almost two years of operation, MindSelf has attracted clients such as Bayer, Visa and BV Bank.

The startup offers customized programs for each company. In addition to the weekly guided practices, which were digitalized during the pandemic, the company offers courses, lectures and workshops to leaderships. The startup has also developed meditation booths that can be installed in client companies’ offices.

Depending on the program selected by the client, the monthly fees range from R$4,000 to R$12,000. This year, MindSelf should grow four times and close 2020 with revenues in excess of R$1 million.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has boosted the company’s business, as the maintenance of employees’ mental health during isolation has become a major concern for human resources departments. “We perceived a higher demand for the programs and we also felt it was easier to close new deals,” says Lima.

One of the companies that sought new solutions for its staff’s mental health in the pandemic is Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Giselle Chiachio, health and welfare specialist at the company, says she found in the partnership with MindSelf an alternative to the weekly guided meditation sessions that the company has been offering since 2017 in the office.

“We provide weekly 30-minute online sessions during the morning for employees to begin the day properly, to control their breathing and emotions. The first time, we had a peak of 200 people, which shows that there is great interest in the practice,” says Chiachio.

MindSelf’s differential in relation to other meditation apps on the market, such as Calm and Headspace, is that the practices are conducted live, with a trained instructor mediating the process. “The instructors offer support and understand how people feel before and after the meditation sessions,” says Lima.

This digitalization driven by the pandemic led the startup to attract customers outside the Rio-São Paulo axis, anticipating its expansion plans. Now, the partners are discussing the possibility of attracting a first external investor to accelerate business growth. “It is not a desperate search, but we are discussing it and assessing our options,” says Ayres.

Source: Exame