Hello, my name is Janet Malcolm, and I am the CEO of Bemore mHealth. My venture is the Pause and Bemore healthcare app, which will monitor and tracks symptoms of menopause and perimenopause in women, and andropause in men. This product is important because the sex hormones oestrogen and testosterone offer many health benefits that are lost as we age. Their declines increase the risk of conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, dementias and osteoporosis. Life expectancy is rising globally leading to a rise in such chronic health conditions and healthcare costs. Governments meanwhile are increasing the age of retirement to reduce financial burdens. However, people need to be physically fit and mentally capable of working to these new retirement ages. This mobile app will link to a health band or smart watch to analyse real time biometrics alongside user recorded symptoms. Inputs are via voice or manual input and a detailed digital diary is also available. Users can also link their user account with another user or clinician in order to share their experiences and gain clinical and peer support. Uniquely, this fully customisable healthcare app will provide options to personally control the storage and monetisation of personal data. Pause and Bemore will grow to provide connected healthcare through integration with electronic health records, providing clinical, as well as machine learning analysis and information. This should lead to early health and wellbeing interventions before symptoms become chronic conditions. It is envisioned that telehealth services will eventually form a part of the Pause and Bemore health and wellbeing platform.

This app will be used by people experiencing distressful or debilitating symptoms as a result of a decline in the sex hormones oestrogen, progesterone or testosterone. This is known medically as the climacteric and the condition can be due to natural ageing or medically induced. A typical user is likely to be a woman or man aged 40 to 50 looking to maintain or improve their health and wellbeing.

Business to Consumers (B2C)

Professional services

In the UK, the industry revenue for health and fitness apps in 2022 is expected to reach £632.4 million (IBISWorld, 2021). This equates to 3.4% of the total UK app development market for 2022. The global mHealth application market is expected to reach a value of $57.57 billion in 2026 and is expected to grow to $149.3 billion by 2028 (Global mHealth Industry Landscape Overview 2020). This growth will be fuelled by the increased use of smart phones, increasing processing power, and connectivity to the internet. Augmented reality and connectable gadgets are expected to provide opportunities for further growth and innovation in the mHealth app market. There have been two major menopause tracking apps launched in 202021, superseding the competitors previously identified in my research. On the Apple platform, an app named Caria was rebranded from a meal plan and wellbeing app to a menopause tracking app with AI assistant. It covers the stages of the menopause and additionally offers symptom input via Apple’s smart watch. Several members can be added to one account, though there is no indication of interaction between users. On the Android platform, Balance Menopause Support has been downloaded 50K+ times since its release in October 2020 and is a British medically informed app. A look at user comments show reported issues with the app lagging and being “buggy” resulting in repeated downloads and re-installations. This indicates that active user levels are much lower than the download numbers suggest. There remain no tracking apps for andropause symptoms though there are apps geared towards male testosterone levels from a fitness perspective. The movements in the market highlight the untapped demand for a climacteric app that is intuitive, interactive, and uses modern technology such as audio input. It also highlights the lack of strong product identity and building up of brand loyalty in this sector.

Early adopters will be the oldest (eldest?) millennials now in their early 40s. They will be in active roles or professional careers, and want to stay at peak health and performance.

Users: • Crowdfunding and crowdsourcing campaigns to sign-up testers and pre-launch subscribers to the app. • Dedicated website for a pre-launch hype builder to create a waiting list, with exclusive offers for early subscribers. • Build brand around a cause that involves personal improvement and combine that with Influencers on social media platforms and word-of-mouth users to gain momentum. • Online reviews and recommendations. • Mobile app stores. • Advertising within targeted health platforms/apps. • Customer word of mouth. Third Parties: • Direct marketing to organisations such as the NHS, charities and producers of relevant products and services. • Networking/ conferences. • Professional forums such as LinkedIn.

I pitched the idea to the Founders Institute this April, and they offered a place on their incubator program, which I decided to defer in order to first complete the idea validation stage with potential customers. I also pitched my idea to Tim Strege (William Factory Small Business Incubator) at the Founders Festival and he expressed an interest in being involved once I progressed the idea.

The idea for the Pause and Bemore healthcare app developed from one of my MSc Psychology projects in 2019/2020. The initial app idea would meet a gap in the market for a symptom and health tracker for people of any gender that are experiencing symptoms of the climacteric (perimenopause, menopause and andropause). It would also bring together users and third parties such as researchers seeking to sample people in this hard to reach demographic. I received great feedback on the product idea and pitched the idea to my university's entrepreneur support program in April 2021. The all-male panel loved the idea and thought it was much needed, adding that they would use such an app if available. I joined my university's entrepreneur support programme in June 2021, since then I have gained additional skills to allow me to understand the technology and regulations surrounding the healthtech sector and refine the idea to develop into a healthcare platform. Finally, I have talked with friends aged in their 40s and 50s about developing a symptom tracker app for the perimenopause, menopause and andropause and the idea is always well received However, I am aware of research showing that the majority of apps do not manage to capture long term users. Although the Pause and Bemore app will offer free content that benefits users, I am looking at strategies to create a strong brand and user base that will be willing to pay for other premium services and products as the healthcare platform develops.

I will attach emails from the Founders Institute, my Lean Canvas for the initial app offering, a pitch video and artwork