The startup shaanty has developed an AI-based mental coach that dissolves your negative thoughts and helps you build positive thought patterns. The idea was born in November 2021 and the app has been available since February 2023. shaanty UG was founded at the beginning of July 2023 with the help of the Startup Port at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg). We asked co-founder Mohamad Hamed Jalalzada a few questions.
How did you come up with the topic of your business idea for shaanty? To what extent does the topic play a role in your life?
We came across this topic because my colleague Marie and I were affected by burnout ourselves due to constant work tension, excessive workloads and numerous insecurities when we were working on our first startup hoλos. We ended up working 12 hours a day because we wanted to do everything perfectly and then at some point the money ran out. As a result, we had to take a six-month break and look after ourselves. We spent a month traveling through Italy by car, with books on mental health in our luggage. Our goal was to find out the causes of our burnout, which is why we researched and read extensively in the field of mental health.
After our return from Italy, we got in touch with experts (Prof. Dr. Martin Sauerland, Miriam Schwartz, Prof. Dr. Gunter Groen) and had in-depth discussions. We realized that the causes of our insecurities, our constant stress and our burnout are dysfunctional thought patterns. These thought patterns are irrational beliefs that massively influence our actions, thoughts and feelings.
During our research, we also came across some mental health apps, which we naturally tried out straight away. However, these did not bring the desired success. That’s why we decided to develop shaanty and protect people from the experiences we had. What makes us special is that we not only use methods from cognitive behavioral therapy to address the conscious mind, but also have a lasting influence on the subconscious in order to achieve long-term effects through neurolinguistic programming.
How does the app work? How would you describe your business idea?
shaanty has a similar structure to WhatsApp, with the difference that there is an AI-based mental coach on the other side who helps to overcome mental blocks. With shaanty, you can chat (as text), exchange voice messages and even make phone calls. During the conversation between the user and shaanty, the AI analyzes dysfunctional thought patterns in the background and checks whether a mental illness is present. If one is identified, shaanty either recommends a suitable real coach (matching the identified problem, spoken language and place of residence) from its database or provides the local emergency number. It is important to emphasize that shaanty cannot cure mental illness.
After the analysis, shaanty works with the coachee to implement a suitable method from cognitive behavioral therapy or neuro-linguistic programming in order to tackle the problem sustainably. In doing so, shaanty asks questions or gives instructions, which the coachee then carries out. If she reaches her limits, she can arrange for a suitable real coach to help overcome the existing challenge.
At shaanty you can buy coaching sessions, whereby the payment system is based on tokens. Each German word corresponds to 2 tokens. On average, 100,000 tokens are required for a complete coaching session.
How could Startup Port or HAW Hamburg help you with the founding and development of your startup? How did you come to Startup Port?
We have known the Startup Port and HAW Hamburg for three years now. They successfully supported us in our application for the Exist start-up grant (for hoλos at the time). As an active member of the community, we always receive the latest updates. We appreciate the wide range of offers such as workshops, funding, events and personal exchange in a 1:1 format that are available to us and are happy to take advantage of them. Over time, Startup Port and HAW Hamburg have become a kind of family for us and we maintain a continuous exchange.
Before you launched the startup shaanty with Marie König, you founded another startup together called hoλos: What did you learn back then? What would you never do again – what has stood the test of time?
Our goal with hoλos was to make the roads safer. Although we dived straight into the start-up world after our Master’s degree, we don’t see our time at hoλos as lost. On the contrary, we learned a lot and broadened our horizons. Not only were we able to work from an engineering perspective, but we also took on tasks that were new to us. Approaching your target customers at an early stage and not implementing every piece of feedback has proven its worth. Sometimes you have to say no and implement your own vision. Of course, this must always be done in moderation, but if you change your product too much and too often, you will never be finished. What we have learned and would not do again is our error culture: we have always tried to perfect our product and did not want to go to our customers with something “ugly” or “unfinished”. But that’s exactly what you learn from. Today, we live by the motto of Dr. Uve Samuel: “Fail fast, fail early, fail cheap and fail better! You can only learn and improve from mistakes. And that’s the only way we managed to develop our app in just 4 months.
We are particularly proud of the fact that we are no longer held back by mental blocks as much as we used to be. Thanks to the intensive coaching, we have gained self-confidence, become more self-assured and found a good work-life balance. Our visions have become clearer and we are moving forward with increased self-confidence.
What are your goals for the end of the year?
Our goal by the end of the year is to help many people overcome their mental blocks with shaanty. We are also looking for funding programs and investors to drive our project forward. As shaanty is currently only available for iOS, we are also aiming to develop an Android version (currently only at 70 percent). We would like to appeal to companies that care about the mental health of their employees to use shaanty as a resource for their workforce and to be open to new, young start-ups. We would be happy to make the relevant contacts.
