Productivity and time optimization in the new age of technology is extremely important. Plug and Play is excited to support BetterYou, a healthy habits companion that helps people find more time to care for their social, physical, and mental health. The app automatically tracks health progress and provides redirection at the opportune moment, aiming to improve overall health in the process.

As our time on any given device increases, our overall satisfaction decreases. As of recently, we spend three times longer on apps that make us feel less happy or productive compared to those that make us feel better. During a time when people struggled with childcare, mental health, and social isolation, the pandemic only exacerbated the amount of depression, anxiety, and insomnia cases there are. This has led to mental health services like Talkspace seeing almost double the amount of new members from March to May 2020 compared to 2019.

In the past decade, social media made our lives virtual, AI and big data took off, and the cloud became the new data storage, among other phenomenons. The average time spent on mobile devices increased from 32 minutes in 2011 to 132 minutes in 2019. With technology consuming more and more of our lives, it's important to find a custom balance that makes optimal use of our time.

BetterYou helps people find time in their day for their health by mapping how they’re spending each day, linking that to specific goals, and delivering real-time reminders when they're falling off track. BetterBot, BetterYou’s AI platform, runs in the background to collect data on app usage, device time, and physical location to learn a user’s behavior as it relates to the specific wellness goals they set. The BetterBot software on Google Cloud Platform then takes this information and calculates scores for each wellness category and shares it with the user in the BetterYou app so they can see how much progress they’re making towards their goals.

BetterYou syncs with over 10,000 apps. This enables customers to get credit for spending time toward theirs goals in the ways that make sense for them.

Meet the team behind BetterYou

BetterYou’s founding team includes co-founder and CEO Sean Higgins, an experienced founder of high-growth technology startups. He was an Entrepreneur in Residence, or EIR, for Techstars, and co-founder and sales lead of Vidgrid (Acq. Paylocity), where he grew revenues to $1m ARR and closed $3m in venture financing.

The other co-founder, Edwin Melendez, is the CTO and a full-stack JavaScript and React Native developer for web, iOS, and Android platforms — building the BetterYou mobile app from scratch.

“BetterYou came into play at the right time. The pandemic affected everyone not just on a physical level but on a mental one as well, and mental wellness has never been more important. We are excited to be able to support such an innovative tool that perfectly aligns with the future of health, well-being, and productivity. Behind this great product is a team filled with ambition and passion for providing people with the right tools that will make it easier and more consistent to find time during the day for their health — and we believe this will have a huge impact on the future of our society,” said Arthur Bessieres, Ventures Associate at Plug and Play.