Danish startup Tiimo has raised €3 million in a seed round for a time planning app for neurodiverse people.
by estimate 20% of the world’s population Due to its neurodiversity, the potential market for Tiimo is huge but underserved.
What does Teemo do?
Founded in 2015, the app is built around managing tasks using visual aids that are easy for your brain to process. These include visual timers to help people stay on track and manage their time, gamified to-do lists, and social components for sharing plans with family, friends, and employers.
Today, most of Tiimo’s revenue comes from direct-to-consumer sales. Individuals can access the app for free, but can also pay €19 per year for additional features such as content and visual aids. We also plan to sell the app to companies as an employee perk. The company’s founder, Melissa Azari, plans to make B2B revenue one-third of her total revenue over the next two years.
Available in 10 languages, Tiimo is downloaded over 30,000 times a month on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and has over 32,000 paying subscribers worldwide. By comparison, US mindfulness app Headspace is downloaded about 500,000 times each month. According to Azari, Tiimo hopes to reach 100,000 downloads by next year.
Investor
- Seed Round is Iceland’s Crowberry Capital and Danish People Ventures.
- Also featured were Silicon Valley-based Goodwater Capital, neurodiversity-focused US VC Divergent Investments, and the co-founders of the world’s most downloaded wine app. VivinoHeini Zachariassen.
what’s next?
Tiimo plans to use the funding to expand its team and roll out additional features such as additional educational content and a mood and energy tracker. We are also building a B2B service and looking to expand our presence in the UK, US and Canada.
What other startups are serving neurodiverse people?
There are few tools on either side of the Atlantic specifically designed for neurodiverse individuals, and no major funding rounds have yet taken place.
Some of the ones on the market include:
- Swedish startup Optolexia, which uses AI to screen dyslexia patients, has raised €5.2 million from investors including private equity group Segulah and investment firm Pomona Group.
- Y Combinator alumnus Inflow raises $3M (including a $2.3M seed round led by Hoxton Ventures earlier this year) to provide affordable access to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) coping strategies is a UK startup helping people with ADHD.
- Latvian startup VREACH is using virtual reality to help children with autism learn cognitive and communication skills.
Sifted’s take
Given the number of neurodiverse people in the world, it’s surprising that specifically tailored tools and apps haven’t been given the same kind of support the digital health sector has enjoyed since the pandemic.
But as consumers, practitioners, and regulators become more comfortable with digital tools than ever before, VCs are jumping on the opportunity, offering products designed for people with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and schizophrenia. It may start raising more money for the startups that have been funded.
Kai Nicol-Schwarz is a reporter for Sifted.He covers health tech and community reports and tweets @NicolSchwarzK.
***
Looking for digestible insight into the disability tech sector? Sifted’s professional briefings on the industry will help you quickly understand what you need to know. Learn more about the benefits offered by Pro membership here.
