Making Google's Best Apps of 2022 list proved to be the perfect way for Chicago startup Stigma to end 2022.
Named Google's Best App for Good, the mental health app may not have been the biggest name on this year's list, but it has since seen interest in its services take off after getting Google's stamp of approval.
"It was magical for us. I think the day it was announced, we had 150 new people sign up in that day," Stigma founder and CEO Ariana Alejandra Vargas told Chicago Inno. "There were only seven winners, and we were on the list with companies like BeReal that has 10 million downloads and is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms in the world. It's been a really exciting four weeks."
For Vargas, the recognition was validation that Stigma was on the right track.
"We got an email in late November from Google that said, 'Hey, you've been selected,' and we were just in disbelief," Vargas said. "Compared to the other apps that are on the list, many of them are further along and more established, but I think that any entrepreneur wants to believe that if you are building something that you think people in the world need, someone will take note and you just have to prepare yourself to be ready for when an opportunity arises."
Google's Best Apps for Good looks for apps made with empathy and insight that aim to uplift, empower and create positive change.
Vargas launched Stigma in August as a way to build a better resource for people struggling with mental illness. By crowdsourcing videos from people battling a range of conditions, anyone struggling with mental health can use the app to discover others who may be struggling with the same things they are dealing with.
The platform doubled its member base in the first five days after the Google announcement. It has also grown the number of strategic partners it works with, including NAMI as well as the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Now with a community of more than 2,000 members, largely grown organically, Vargas thinks momentum is building for the mental health app heading into the new year.
