Empowering youth mental health using the psychology of game play

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HighlightsEdit

  • A winner of The World Economic Forum's Youth Mental Health Challenge
  • Over 1 million people have played the SuperBetter web & mobile app
  • Invented by world-renowned game designer Jane McGonigal
  • Great reviews on App Store (4.7/5 stars), recommended by schools & colleges
  • Significantly reduces anxiety & depression in published studies
  • Revenue-generating collaboration with Parkland Health System
  • Introducing Squad Play and a new subscription revenue model this fall

ProblemEdit

1 in 3 high school students experienced poor mental health last yearEdit

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We're in a youth mental health crisis

and the U.S. Surgeon General calls for a swift response:

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Teachers feel the impact on their students every dayEdit

Educators can play a bigger role to promote youth mental health, but need practical tools for their classroom realities

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We can't treat our way out of the mental health crisisEdit

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Many are doing important work to improve access to mental health care, but fixing treatment access isn't enough.

Ending the crisis requires going upstream to develop protective factors and reduce prevalence of anxiety, depression & suicide.

SuperBetter fills the gap for prevention that is easily-accessible, evidence-based, cost-efficient and globally-scalable.

SolutionEdit

SuperBetter empowers youth to overcome obstacles & achieve their goalsEdit

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Its unique methodology applies the psychology of game play to all of lifeEdit

The 7 rules for playing:

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It connects to young peoples' affinity for video gamesEdit

  • 75% of US youth play video games
  • SuperBetter brings the same gameful mindset to whole life

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A tool for teachers to empower student successEdit

A new Squad Play feature this fall transforms SuperBetter into an evidence-based tool for anyone who teaches, coaches & supports others - especially youth and young adults.

An important target is teachers and social-emotional learning. Learn more in this 5-minute pitch from the Milken-Penn Graduate School of Education Business Plan Competition Finals:

ProductEdit

SuperBetter brings social-emotional learning to lifeEdit

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SuperBetter brings social-emotional learning to life for middle school and high school classrooms by making it practical & engaging. Teachers host Challenges that students play in real life to develop life skills and increase their resilience & mental health.

How it worksEdit

Teachers host Challenges from their admin portal

  1. Select from library, or create new Challenge (e.g. a 5-day Challenge to develop the skill of empathy)
  2. Invite students to play
  3. Monitor student progress

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Students play on their web or mobile device outside class

  1. Accept the challenge to play
  2. Play Superbetter for 5-10 minutes a day
  3. Activate power-ups, battle bad guys, complete quests & check-in with allies as they go for their epic win

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TractionEdit

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Great reviewsEdit

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A winner of The World Economic Forum's Youth Mental Health ChallengeEdit

1 of 14 global youth mental health ventures selected to join a community of innovators tackling the world's most pressing issues

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Backed by scienceEdit

Playing SuperBetter improves resilience & mental health

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Evaluated in a dozen published studiesEdit

Find links to the 12 publications here

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Schools recommend SuperBetterEdit

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Teachers are creating SuperBetter ClassroomsEdit

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EdTech industry accoladesEdit

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PressEdit

SuperBetter & team are featured in 150+ media stories in 2022

Find 24 favorite articles in the Press section below

CustomersEdit

A versatile, global platformEdit

Anyone can purchase a subscription on the website and host SuperBetter Challenges

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Notable partnershipsEdit

Parkland Health SystemEdit

A revenue-producing partnership to empower at-risk teens

Funded in part by winning a $150,000 prize in the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas Health Innovation Technology Challenge

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Global Development Pilot ProgramEdit

SuperBetter Children in Zambia

Can the SuperBetter framework (without the app) be used by students in low-resource schools in developing countries to build resilience and tackle global health challenges including mental health, malaria and nutrition?

SuperBetter Children in Zambia, a 1-year pilot led by our allies at Children for Health, ends soon. The results are promising.

Business modelEdit

Scalable & profitable revenue model driven by impactEdit

Subscriptions will be introduced with Squad Play this fall

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Designed for efficient customer acquisition.

Hosts purchase a subscription on the SuperBetter website (like Kahoot! & other successful EdTech companies).

It's free to play Challenges hosted by others.

An upgraded player subscription adds Solo Play, a Challenge library and tools to personalize the player journey.

Teacher hosts create warm leads to sell site licenses to schools.

Jump-starting revenueEdit

For early revenue, a newsletter campaign will announce Squad Play to the 1 million+ people with SuperBetter accounts

Financial projections*Edit

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MarketEdit

$14 billion+ marketEdit

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CompetitionEdit

One of the top 8 mental health apps for 2022 in Medical News TodayEdit

And the #1 best for children & teenagers

SuperBetter is differentiated vs. the other top apps

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* As a bootstrapped small business we're proud to find SuperBetter alongside market-leading, VC-backed unicorns with $1 billion+ valuations including Calm, Headspace & Talkspace.

Find more articles featuring SuperBetter as a 'best app for mental health' in the Press section below.

Social Emotional LearningEdit

In classrooms, our solution compares favorably to traditional social-emotional learning curriculums.

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Vision and strategyEdit

Our team's north star:Edit

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Squad Play catalyzes profitable scalingEdit

Our bold North Star reflects the scale & urgency of the global youth mental health crisis. As Squad Play gains traction we'll use market & customer data to prioritize channel, geography & strategic partnership opportunities to expand impact and revenue.

The funds raised will grow our impact & revenue fasterEdit

Squad Play product development is funded with revenue

Additional funds will enable:

  • A marketing campaign to launch Squad Play
  • Closing a pipeline of partnerships with organizations interested in bringing SuperBetter to their customers & communities
  • Making the Squad Play experience better, faster
  • More Challenges for the library
  • Adding languages beyond English sooner (in 2023)

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FundingEdit

$170K raised from Friends & Family in 2015Edit

Bootstrapped since 2015

SuperBetter partnered with Republic so that anyone can be an investor, regardless of their wealth, income or net worth.

Our communitiesEdit

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UpLink is a platform connecting problem-solving innovators with the expertise and network of The World Economic Forum

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Completed the gBETA Social Impact Accelerator for ventures advancing equity in education

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A community of Founders that aim to make the EdTech industry easier to navigate

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Supports small business as they rapidly scale

FoundersEdit

A world-renowned game designer and a brand builder who knows how to scale innovation profitablyEdit

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Keith Wakeman

CEO

Purpose-driven Innovator. Brand Builder. Launched $1 billion+ in new products. Experienced at growing revenue & profits.

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Jane McGonigal, PhD

Chief Science Officer

SuperBetter Inventor. Game Designer. Researcher. Futurist. Bestselling Author. Director of Games Research at the Institute for the Future.

SuperBetter TED Talk watched 8 million timesEdit

NY Times BestsellerEdit

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SummaryEdit

Invest in a future you believe inEdit

Like most parents, we feel the impact of the youth mental health crisis in our own families, schools and communities.

We all want a better future for our children.

Will you join us?

SuperBetter TeamEdit

Keith Wakeman

CEO, Product & Partnerships

Jane McGonigal

Science

Kayli Elvin

Marketing

Alice Jung

Content

Joan LaBue

Operations & Customer Service

Rachelle Perez

High School Student Intern

Julia Monfrini Peev

Advisor