Was it the pandemic? Did everyone follow too many TikTokers with ADHD? Have smartphones fried our brains? Whatever the case, there is a boom in technology solutions for ADHD, from online medication deliveries to websites and apps.
Something is definitely going on out there. There were 139.84 million and 366.33 million ADHD affected adults in 2020, globally. It is said that adults with ADHD lose an average of 22 days of productivity per year. And between 2003 and 2011, the US faced a 42% growth in the diagnosis of childhood ADHD. And the mental health space (of which ADHD is a part) took off a couple of years ago. Venture capitalists invested $1.4 billion in the European mental health sector in 2021, according to Dealroom data, but investment dropped to $354 million last year as venture capitalists took flight in the recession, across the board. .
However, there is still a lot of activity. based in London hello connects patients with licensed therapists and covers a variety of mental health conditions, including ADHD. Out of New York, Influx, an app that supposedly helps members better manage ADHD through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)-based support, has raised an $11 million Series A round led by Octopus Ventures. Centered is a desktop app that provides AI voice coaches to help ADHD sufferers stay focused (with Pomodoro timers, calendar, etc.) and also has “Friend Sessions” between members and for productivity coaches and ADHD. Startup of Ukrainian origin number is an app for adults with ADHD that gamifies daily tasks and gets support.
healios raised a £7 million ($9.9M) Series A round to expand its platform across the UK.
now there is a Buddy, whose pitch is that it is a “productivity browser”. Today it is launching a series of features aimed at people with ADHD and distracted attention in general.
Sidekick was a member of Y Combinator’s 2020 cohort, and in March 2021 they raised $2 million in a round Directed by Kleiner Perkins.
The company claims that users with ADHD noticed a “significant improvement” after using the browser. The Chromium-based browser was founded by Dmitry Pushkarev (a Stanford PhD in Molecular Biology), a former Amazon executive and ADHDer)
So how does it work?
To eliminate distractions, the browser incorporates AdBlock 2.0; a focus mode timer turns off all sounds, badges, and notifications for a selected amount of time or indefinitely; a task manager organizes your day; and there’s a built-in Pomodoro timer; it also claims to run 3 times faster than Chrome, which is apparently important for ADHD sufferers. Suffice to say that it has a number of other distraction-eliminating features, however I’m not going to list them all here.
CEO and founder Dmitry Pushkarev said in a statement: “Modern browsers are not designed for work, but for consuming web pages. This breach really harms hundreds of millions of users. We are convinced that reducing web distraction reduces anxiety and increases the quality of people’s work and the quality of their lives.”
He says the startup plans to make money through corporate subscribers, who will pay to get their ADHD-affected workers into a more productive mode.
Unfortunately for Sidekick, it has many competitors in the attention that reduces browser space, including Bow, Brave and vivaldi.
With all that said, Sidekick’s attention (geddit?) to ADHD may earn it a valuable niche, especially given the apparent pandemic of ADHD patients.