Into the world
Mevoked launched its beta service Oct. 22.
It isn’t intended to be a replacement for parental communication or traditional therapy; it’s a supplemental tool for an age where kids may prefer to vent about their day — or their bully — with online communities rather than with their parents.
“Technology, as wonderful as it is, has created a generational gap where there’s a lot more cracks for kids to fall into,” Ferrer said. “So we’re trying to create some trip wires, if you will, to demonstrate to parents when that’s happening.
“It’s really important to have a human being in front of you to share those key moments of pain or joy with you. A computer can’t do that. I hope we can help parents identify some of the moments when they need to be doing that.”
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Ferrer thinks Mevoked could be a great tool for psychologists and psychiatrists, too. He brought up the example of sleep logs, which are “practically impossible” for kids to remember to fill out. Mevoked collects some sleep data without active participation from kids, which could make it a more reliable resource.
At this point, parents would still need to provide that observational data, but eventually the company plans to provide direct access for mental health professionals whose patients are using Mevoked.
Addressing privacy concerns, Ravi promised all the data Mevoked collects is anonymous and stored securely in Amazon Web Services’ HIPAA-compliant cloud.
Mevoked is acquiring users at “a healthy rate,” according to Ravi, who declined to discuss specific numbers but mentioned that Mevoked doesn’t need millions of customers to be a sustainable company. The Chrome extension costs $5 a month or $39 a year, but Ravi is currently working on a freemium model.
Ginger.io is a comparable behavioral analytics company focused on adults. Based on predictive models developed by MIT scientists and engineers, Ginger.io tracks data from your mobile phone to determine your social, physical, and mental health habits.
Ravi could eventually see scaling his platform to adults, but children will remain the focus as the company seeks to grow and raise a seed round. He’s thrilled about future possibilities, though, gushing on the opportunities that would emerge if Mevoked is able cross-reference its behavior analytics with physiological data.
“Mental health and technology are kind of like enemies; they haven’t gotten together until recently,” said Ravi. “We’re very positive about where we can take the solution from here.”
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