Beluga Pods: reducing loneliness

Feeling lonely and lacking a support network a young woman with a mysterious illness decided to fill the gap in the market
An EPIC project
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As Einstein once said, “In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.” Beluga Pods founder Georgie Cox has taken these words to heart: In 2019, she was working as a successful investment banker in London when she fell ill with a mysterious condition that multiple doctors failed to diagnose. 
Seeking answers and support online, Georgie was disappointed to find a lack of resources for people in her situation. 

Because I was quite young and healthy before, they thought it was just a virus that would pass. But it didn’t. And then COVID happened, and all the medical investigations got paused.

I wanted to find someone going through the same thing as me. But I wasn’t diagnosed, so it was really tricky to know where to go. That’s when I thought ‘Oh, maybe there’s an app that connects you to someone for a particular reason’. There isn’t – everything I found was very exposing and when you’re going through a traumatic time you don’t really want to blast about it online.

Undeterred, law graduate Georgie decided to fill the gap in the market herself and the idea for Beluga Pods was born. 
A multi-faceted social media and wellness platform in the very early stages of development, Beluga Pods is aimed at reducing loneliness among its users. With higher privacy settings than other social media apps and specific ‘pods’ enabling users to connect based on similar hobbies, medical conditions, or life situations, the platform will provide a safe place for users to give and receive support. Additional AI functionality will monitor and remove potentially distressing content and reach out to users who express concerning or depressive thoughts. 
Without any software development or eHealth experience, Georgie sought the advice of EPIC, who were delighted to take on the project, given its focus on loneliness and isolation and goals of strengthening support networks and a sense of community. 
Background  
Georgie’s early research highlighted the extent of the loneliness crisis in the UK: 
  • Around 47% of adults experience loneliness ‘occasionally or more often.’ 
  • Loneliness costs UK employers between £2.2 billion and £3.7 billion per year. 
  • Loneliness or social isolation is linked to poorer health outcomes, including early death, higher rates of depression and cognitive decline. 
  • Over a quarter of UK students (37%) say their state of mental wellbeing has changed for the worse since starting higher education (source: ).
Source material: Randstad. Tackling loniliness.
Beluga Pods set out to fill the gap in the market by producing an app designed to connect users in need of support, either for a specific health condition or life event, or to make friends with like-minded people online without the negative aspects of current social platforms (such as toxic behaviour, ease of anonymity, and a risk of private information becoming public). Once the app is developed, Georgie is initially hoping to roll it out within universities on a subscription basis, providing students with mental health support and easing current costs and burdens for academic institutions. With the rising mental health crisis among students, having this type of support will potentially be useful for attracting new admissions.  
Screen shots of the Beluga Pods app
How has EPIC helped Beluga Pods? 
Georgie reached out to EPIC in March 2022 with her initial app idea and fully embraced all the support on offer. Key EPIC contact Nicole Thomas has conducted a literature review evidencing the need for Beluga Pods, along with a competitive overview of similar products already available. Referrals to ORCHA, software development company Buzz Interactive, and various relevant stakeholders and events have helped Beluga Pods progress to the prototype development stage and develop a plan for future progression. 
“EPIC have been amazing in my journey because they’ve helped with some of the research and I got the Challenge Fund to build my prototype, which has really brought it to life,” says Georgie. 
What’s next for Beluga Pods?
The help that Beluga Pods has received from EPIC has significantly boosted the fledgling company’s progress. A Challenge Fund grant of £4835 (with a £485 match) has enabled Beluga Pods to commission Newquay-based Buzz Interactive to create an interactive wireframe prototype of a basic version of the app. Georgie is now hoping to put together a focus group to help co-design the app and secure additional investment for further development costs, marketing, and patent protection. 
Attending this year’s Slush start-up event in Helsinki, facilitated and funded by EPIC, has connected Georgie with a network of potential investors, and she has multiple investor meetings scheduled to discuss potential funding opportunities. She hopes to have a fully functioning app reach to launch by September 2023.