Zomato co-founder Pankaj Chaddah and ex-Zomato Chief of Staff Pooja Khanna have announced their entrepreneurial venture Mindhouse, a mental wellness service that offers a variety of guided meditation sessions and techniques.
The Mindhouse app provides meditation and yoga content in the form of live classes and a vast library of modules that can be consumed anytime by the user. The classes are led by a team of instructors and conducted in an interactive format. They also offer yoga classes, delivered in the same format, as well as proprietary pre-recorded audio and video content.
Built for beginners and advanced meditators alike, the app recommends content based on the user’s selected goals from sleep, patience, focus, relaxed mind and body, and their past experience in meditation. The app is available on Android and iOS.
Chaddah, co-founder, Mindhouse, said: “Mental health has come to the forefront with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, and the space has seen a huge surge in demand. While numerous other entities are offering solutions in conjunction with broader healthcare programmes, there is a clear need for a more singular, dedicated approach to mental wellness, which is what Mindhouse is focussed on.”
Focus on professionals
With a strong focus on professionals, Mindhouse has worked with more than 500 companies during the lockdown to provide access to mental health programmes for their employees. “The early feedback has been heartening for us, as more than 85 per cent of the feedback from users indicates a positive impact of meditating with Mindhouse,” said Chaddah, who stepped away from an operational role in Zomato in 2018 and continues to be on its Board of Directors.
According to recent Assocham and Optum surveys, up to 50 per cent of corporate employees feel stressed, and as per a NIMHANS study 5 per cent of the urban metro population suffers from stress-related disorders. With kids and the elderly population included, the Mindhouse team expects 70-90 million urban Indians to inculcate meditation into their wellness routine; and estimates consumer spending on meditation to surge to an annual $10-billion market in the country over the next few years.
Pooja Khanna, co-founder, Mindhouse, said, “Online and offline channels will both help fuel this growth. Countries like the US have now reached similar penetration of meditation as yoga, and India will get there very quickly.” The team, with its global experience behind them, also has an eye on the international market. “Globally, meditation is closely associated with India, and we think a great product from India can do exceptionally outside as well,” she said.
Mindhouse, which is self-funded and has a few angel investors on board, launched its services in December 2019 with physical meditation studios. Within the first few days of the lockdown, it pivoted to the online model and accelerated efforts to scale up the digital services. The start-up charges ₹1,999 for annual online membership.