In July of 2019, 60 participants of 25 nationalities accepted the challenge to create a startup in only 10 days. From ideation to pitching, 12 diverse teams worked on innovative solutions to the world’s biggest problems. 

The last day of the program was the moment of truth—it was the chance for each team to pitch their startup to investors. After intense hours, the winners of this tough competition were announced, and Bluewell was one of the ideas selected by investors.

Bluewell is a mobile app that offers the right environment for people looking for support with mental health and anxiety.  A few months after the announcement of becoming a top team, we at EIA spoke with Rama Satya, CEO of Bluewell. Ready to discover more about the app? Let’s go!

1. We’ve quickly introduced Bluewell, but you’re the most qualified to explain the mobile app for EIA readers. How would you describe it a nutshell?

Bluewell is the project of a mental health mobile app that aims to help alleviate mild mental health problems, mainly focusing on anxiety and depression. It allows users to track their progress and assess their condition in several different stages. As I’m Indonesian, we decided to tackle that market.

2. Why are you working on the mental health topic?

Mental health is a worldwide issue, but it is heavily overlooked. In Indonesia, there is a vivid social stigma enveloping the cases of mental health, resulting in a reluctance to reach out for professional help. The idea that a person can manage their own mental health issues is still the most common mindset in Indonesia. Because of that, problems like anxiety and depression tend to worsen. Mental health is equally as important as physical health, but the amount of attention that is being given to it is far less compared to other physical diseases.

Bluewell Team - First Day

There are 9 million people suffering from mental health problems in Indonesia, just 1 million less than people suffering from diabetes. The gap between the prevalence of the two diseases is very tight, however, mental health problems are not given the same attention. 

The number of professionals and specialists in Indonesia is also an issue. There are only 1,000 specialists available in Indonesia to cater to the needs of people with mental health problems. This means that one single specialist is responsible for 260,000 patients. There’s a huge discrepancy between supply and demand. 

If you think of an eight-hour shift, this means that a doctor would have 24 seconds to see each patient. Therefore, seeing this problem personally around me—both in Indonesia and globally—led to the action of attempting to develop a mental health app that tackles this big issue.

3. What were the biggest challenges during the EIA program?

As the CEO and the youngest member of the team, my personal biggest challenge was leadership. Gaining their trust and proving that I was able to provide value was what made me grow the most.

Bluewell during Expo

Regarding teamwork, prototyping was a big challenge. It took us a lot of time brainstorming in order to get to the final version we presented to potential customers. Having Indonesia as our target market also made our work harder when we had to validate the product and persona. Thankfully, we managed to solve these problems within the 10 days of the program.

5. How is Bluewell going to change the world?

One of the unique value propositions and competitive advantages of Bluewell itself is the fact that it has a lot of integrated yet focused features in the app. Users can personalize parts of the app to their specific needs.

Bluewell creates a safe space where people can express their thoughts with features like the journal. It helps to provide a positive environment where people can grow and use the app as support for mental health treatment. 

6. What are the next steps for the startup?

We’re looking to develop the founding team—this is something crucial to kick-off the project. After that, we’ll have to evolve the prototype and work on a new validation process.

The European Innovation Academy team can’t wait to see the launching of Bluewell app, and you’ll be the first to know when that happens. Meanwhile, don’t miss the chance to learn more about EIA’s entrepreneurship programs. Maybe you’ll have an article about your winning team next year!