Entrepreneur from Essex wins £50,000 for an app to help improve mental health of students
Ryan Bell, the creator of Tech Balance, has won the Young Innovators Next Step Award for developing an app that educates students on the impact that screen time can have on their mental health and also how to build good tech habits to improve their mental well-being.
The young entrepreneur from Brentwood says that he was inspired by his own experience during lockdown when he found the continuous usage of technology for various purposes taking a toll on his mental health, to develop the app and start his business.
Ryan has been working on his business for over a year and a half and started developing the app in November of last year.
“We’ve worked with around 50 students to design this app to support their well-being. The 50,000 funding that I’ve got will help me develop this app, test it and launch it so that we can run a pilot study with the Univeristy this year.”
He believes that now more than ever it's important to review how we use technology and also understand the impact it can have on our minds.
“Students tend to spend more time online than on anything else. Technology is moving rapidly, and the growth of AI, virtual reality, and artificial reality has made things more immersive than ever. Distractions are becoming more common and now is a good time to take responsibility for how we use technology on a day-to-day basis.”
Ryan has previously won the Young Innovators Award and is also the host of the UK group LookUp, a non-profit international digital well-being organization.