From the💚of a cofounder who just raised funds
**cofounder of a mental health startup & alas it wasn't pretty
One week in and my Linkedin was full of appreciation for raising $500,000 seed fund for MindPeers - my second entrepreneurial venture. But this post is not about that. It’s about what’s to come.
Before that, to every aspiring entrepreneur who feels that pressure everyday which makes their mind say ‘when am i going to raise’, I want to tell you few truths about my journey -
It took us 12 whole months to raise this amount. Indian landscape still wasn’t ready to take a bet on this industry but you learn from every rejection
We were pushed to walk out of an investor offer because it was toxic. It’s ok to say no and have your confidence and peace of mind intact. Who joins your captable matters
Raising funds is a means to reach goals and not the end. Dont raise if you dont need it
Fundraising is not the only way to sustain or validate your startup. Dont measure your future success with the current speed of fundraising
Journey to this $500,000
It’s a our second round. This round was led by Venture Catalysts and our co-investors are Goodwater Capital, Magic Fund, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ( Meity) and cofounder of India’s biggest game platform ( he loves confidentiality)
Honestly speaking you can’t do this without your first believers. They are 100xvc, Gopi Latpate ( former ED of JLL ), Aurelien ( former COO of Google APAC) and many more angel investors
We pivoted after 64 VC rejections because our path to PMF wasn’t clear and mental health isn’t a clear market to scale in Asia. But what a learning it was because it all fell in place and we havent been more confident about the magic we are creating at MindPeers
MindPeers is asking you to think differently
Taking care of mind doesnt always mean therapy. It needs same proactive attention as our physical body
We have stigmatized mental health so much because we have never understood its science. Behavorioal science, psychology and neuroscience are some important subjects that tell you the rationality of emotions, of how your mind functions, the thoughts we have and why we behave the way we do
There has been a lack of evidence based interventions in mental health, but it doesnt have to be the same way forever. You can now measure how fit your mind is. Get curious about it
MindPeers and the road ahead
We are running a marathon. We want to be a sustainable company.
For us value creation >> valuations
Category creators of mental strength - a positive and proactive approach to resilience building and your best self
We are making the measurement of mental strength possible
In-house games built on behavioral science
Upskilling and insights will be our customer’s indispensable tools to unleash the power of their mind
Our belief - We are crazy enough to change the world
#BeCrazyWithMindPeers