How Evolve Built an Inclusive Mental Health App from India for the World

In this episode of Millionaire Mondays, featured in Startup Spotlights, an initiative by Google Play, we sit down with Anshul Kamath and Rohan Arora, founders of Evolve, a mental health platform, with a special focus on the LGBTQIA+ community.

Since its inception in 2017, Evolve has helped over 1 million people across the world, in the uplifting and well-being of their mental health.

00:00 Intro
03:51 Story of Anshul
08:47 Rohan's Story
12:36 How Both of them Met
17:32 Evolve's Early Days
21:28 Early Financing
23:20 First Fundraise
27:29 Recognition by The Google Play Store
29:36 Building for the World
31:39 Evolve's Business Model
35:24 Decision to build for LGBTQ+ community
45:55 Is Evolve B2B or B2C?
50:18 Future Roadmap
53:09 Looking Back
58:31 Founder's Future Ambitions
1:04:24 Outro

When Anshul and Rohan initially started Evolve in 2017, it was a mental health app for everyone. However, in 2021, the team pivoted towards an LGBTQ+ first app after seeing some early signs of traction.

The reason according to the founders is that “the LGBTQ+ community is one of the fastest growing user segments globally and research shows that members of the community are almost 4 times as likely to experience serious mental illness compared to the general population”.

Evolve’s core team comprises people from diverse gender identities and sexual orientations and this helps them understand first-hand the struggles and challenges of the LGBTQ+ community when it comes to mental health and wellness.

What makes Evolve different from the other mental health apps in the market is its focus on community building. So while other apps focus primarily on virtual content, Evolve has a thriving community where users can discuss and share their experiences to normalise stressors.

(Social Links)

Google India’s IG:

  / googleindia  

Google India’s X:

https://x.com/GoogleIndia
https://x.com/googledevsin?lang=en

Google India’s YouTube:

   / @googledevelopersindia  
   / googleindia  

Google’s Global Youtube:
   / @googledevelopers  

Google India’s LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/goo...

Evolve’s LinkedIn:   / evolveinc  

Evolve’s Instagram:   / evolveapp_  

Evolve’s X: https://x.com/evolveapp_

Anshul Kamath’s LinkedIn:   / anshulkamath  

Rohan Arora’s Linkedin:   / rohan-arora5  

Anshul Kamath’s X: https://x.com/anshulkamath

Anshul Kamath’s Instagram:   / anshulkamath  


#mentalhealth #StartupSpotlights #GooglePlay

[This podcast is sponsored by Google Play.]