Marbles Analytics, a Minneapolis-based mental health startup and semifinalist in this year's Minnesota Cup, is now being recommended to individuals calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for assistance.
Marbles is a free app that allows users track their mental health and communicate anonymously about issues they're facing in their day-to-day lives. Founder Adam Moen said the app is modeled after a peer-to-peer support group he runs as a volunteer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
The app aims to help users develop self-awareness by periodically rating how they're feeling about things like work, relationships or self-worth. It also has a "trends" feature that shows how these feelings change over time. It's a bit like Fit Bit for mental health.
"Every week I've been leading groups and listening to the problems young people face," Moen said. "And I started to realize that some of these were problems we could face digitally."
Through the app, Moen said he hopes to built a platform that's both accessible and engaging for young people to use. He partnered with local consulting company, Tarmac, to create the app itself, but said he manages and funds the business largely on his own. It's a big project, and Moen's attempt at a solution for a large goal: eliminating young adult suicide.
Moen himself struggled with depression and suicide during his time as a student at the University of Minnesota, but said he didn't reach out for help because none of the available services appealed to him. Eventually, Moen said, he started speaking with a helpful therapist and experimenting with alternative therapies like yoga and acupuncture.
According to Moen, finding quality help is a common problem for people seeking mental health assistance. Many choose not to get help because of the stigma associated with mental illness, or other financial, social or geographic barriers.
"A person can start to feel really discouraged if they don't get the right treatment or insurance gets in the way," Moen said. "I would really like [Marbles] to plug into the existing mental and emotional health experience, and to let people know there are other options available."
After graduating, Moen began a one-man mission to help others dealing with issues similar to those he faced in college. He started his own healthcare consulting business, Real EmPowerment Solutions, redesigned the university's mental health website and attempted to create a peer-to-peer campus drop in discussion center on campus.
He said previously applied to the Minnesota Cup three times with several of these ideas, but never made it past the first round. As a semifinalist in this year's impact venture category, Moen said he's connected with mentors who are helping him refine Marbles' business model.
According to Moen, Marbles now has around 2,000 users, some of whom credit the app with helping them fight suicidal thoughts. As Marbles continues to grow, Moen hopes that the app will help cut back on that number, with the goal of eventually eliminating it all together.
On average, approximately 1,100 college students commit suicide each year.
"I was very close to being one of them," Moen said. "It's pretty sad that we live in a culture like this where a person with so much potential would consider doing that. We want to provide services that keep chipping away at that number."
