Social media
has lately been linked to mental health issues, with a recent study showing a
causal relationship between the use of social media and depression and
loneliness. Wisdo, which just raised $11 million in seed funding from Intel
Capital and a handful of angel investors, aims to connect and support people in
some of their toughest moments.
Communities
on Wisdo focus on topics around physical health, mental health, self-growth,
sexuality, identity and family. The app works by connecting people seeking help
with those who can offer help — often those who have been through similar
experiences.
“Wisdo grew
out of my own personal experience when my father was diagnosed with cancer – I
had no experience with cancer and there was no ‘map’ for what I should do next,
no one to give me direction,” Wisdo CEO Boaz Gaon said in a statement. “I also
understood that this could not possibly be true: there had to be many millions
of people who had lived through this exact situation and who could help guide
me – I just needed to find them. This was the seed of Wisdo – connecting people
around these experiences, finding the everyday wisdom that we all need, sharing
the earned wisdom that we all have, building a map for life’s emotional
challenges, and giving people insight into what happens next.”
Wisdo’s
timeline feature enables people to lay out their experiences in the form of
steps. Based on those steps, Wisdo develops an outline for each life
experience. From there, users can engage with each other in one-on-one
conversations. In beta, Wisdo grew to 500,000 users.
“Social
networks are based on generalized groups of friends and acquaintances where you
can’t share openly and honestly about anything,” Richard Klausner, an investor
in Wisdo and founder of Juno Therapeutics, said. “Social networks can be a
force for good by rewarding empathy and helpfulness, which is why we believe so
much in Wisdo’s mission. We want users to not only be open and honest, but move
from that to creating human connections, which can improve users’ lives in the
long run.”
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