76. SPOKE World

Exceptional Founder Award Shortlisted

In recognition of the entrepreneur who has turned their own personal struggles or challenges into a force-for-good, leading the way for industry change and innovation.

Startups 100: Exceptional Founder Award

Founder: Ariana Alexander-Sefre, Michael Maher, and Lemzi
Year founded: 2019
Website: spoke.world

Like many startups, SPOKE World was born from a real world experience, after the founder, Ariana Alexander-Sefre, experienced tragedy when her younger brother’s best friend sadly took his own life. 

This set Alexander-Sefre on a path to exploring how to improve the mental health tools available to younger generations. After discovering that the existing market simply didn’t cater to younger minds, she set out to build a more relatable platform.

The key was something that most young people enjoy and can relate to – music. SPOKE World is an app that aims to make ‘looking after your mind as easy as listening to your favourite music’, and it’s already making an impact.

Using music, SPOKE World is able to speak to young people, especially Gen Z men and people from diverse backgrounds, and help them practise good mental health care. 

Founded in 2019, SPOKE World and its founders are no stranger to accolades, with the app already racking up over 500 5-star reviews on its app store listings, and being featured as app of the day, twice. 

Alexander-Sefre herself won the East London Innovator award in 2020 for social innovation, and has given a TEDx talk titled ‘Can Music Save Lives?’.

Long term, SPOKE World has an admirable mission statement – to be the world’s leading mental-wellness app. To do this, the company intends to introduce the platform to new markets and develop new features and content. Not that the current offering is lacking – it already offers a full mental-wellness solution, and even boasts original music created purely for the app.

With over £1.6 million raised to date in capital, from investors such as Ada Ventures, Bethnal Green Ventures, and The Inner Foundation, the future is certainly harmonious for this startup, and it already boasts a wide range of supporters. 

It has also made the Startups 100 shortlist for Exceptional Founder, thanks to Ariana’s work with influencers in the music industry to forge a connection with Gen Z and improve mental health.