not less but better is solving the most elusive mental health challenge of the 21st century: smartphone addiction. Using network technology and machine learning, nlbb’s real-time coach can detect problematic usage patterns and intervene with just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI) based on behavioral science. They’re building humane tech for human problems.
Berlin, March 9, 2022. not less but better, a Digital Wellness startup from Berlin, announces its pre-seed funding. The round closed at the end of last year, and included notable angels such as the co-founders and former MDs of Blinkist (Sebastian Klein, now Neue Narrative), N26 (Christian Rebernik, now Tomorrow’s Education), mysugr (Frank Westermann, now 9am.health) and the former Senior VP Digital Government at SAP (Ina Schlie). nlbb was able to secure the round with 47% of the angels being female – seven of whom hail from the Encourage Ventures network (like Myriam Kirschner, Tamara Kaes, Elena Girlich, among others). nlbb has also secured an exceptional advisory board of product-minded leaders including Georgie Smallwood, CPO of Tier Mobility, and Jesaja Brinkmann, Co-CEO of Cara Care. The capital secured in the pre-seed round is invested in further development of the product. Funds were raised on an exciting pivot that builds upon the science-backed methodology already experienced by over 15,000 users since launch in 2021. Closed testing is already being conducted of the newest prototype by users based in Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
not less but better was founded in 2020 by Selcuk Aciner, Christina Roitzheim, and Marius Rackwitz.
“We are thrilled to have the support of such strong angels and advisors, closing a successful pre-seed round which will accelerate the impact of our scientifically-backed methods. We believe that humane tech that solves human problems is the future, and are grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to solving one of the most pressing challenges of our time: smartphone addiction,”
says Christina Roitzheim, co-founder, product leader, and psychologist at nlbb.
nlbb is the first phone addiction app that is hyper-personalized to the needs of the user. The mission is to help people around the world get back in control of their phone use so they can enjoy the wonders of how technology keeps us connected without the doom spirals when it all goes wrong. People around the world are no longer complicit with their attention being hijacked by big tech. Around 30% of all 655m phone users in the US, Europe, Canada, and Australia changed their tech use toward digital wellbeing (~190 million people). 20% of these smartphone users actively tried to change their phone habits and failed with existing solutions (~38 million people). nlbb is being built for the millions of high-intent people who feel out of control, but are unable to change on their own. Using just-in-time adaptive interventions means that nlbb helps keep users in their lane, gently guiding them back to how they want to spend their time. nlbb is able to help users build healthy habits by looking at holistic smartphone use: it’s not just about reducing your screen time; it’s about being in control of how you spend your time and energy.
“We live in a structureless world. Days blend into nights. Work bleeds into weekends. Workplaces blend into homes. The vague, boundary-less way of living is the perfect breeding ground for smartphone addiction. It paves the ideal path to pull us into mindless phone use and keep us there for hours at a time. But the solution to this is not to force structure. In many ways, that’s no longer an option as the ‘new normal’ includes a lot of variety day-to-day. We’re building the only solution so personalized to your behavior and patterns that it actually works long-term, no matter how varied your days. It’s just that personal,”
says Selcuk Aciner, responsible for commercialization.
“The only real, scalable solution to the dark side of tech is humane tech. Using JITAI and ML technology allows us to personalize a solution so acutely that it’s almost impossible not to be successful in overcoming your challenging smartphone habits,”
says Marius Rackwitz who is running technology at nlbb.
“Smartphones are in the hand of almost every consumer. And these little devices are powerful. They can build worlds and tear their users down in the process. Time is often stolen from us when we’re on our phones—forcing us to sacrifice the truly important things in life. But the problem is not that we don’t have time, rather that we don’t use it properly. I believe that nlbb helps to build a sustainable society where its users leave each touchpoint a little more successful and fulfilled. That is why I have invested,”
says Christian Rebernik who was the first angel to invest.
The HealthTech startup based in Berlin was founded in 2020 by Selcuk Aciner (CEO), Christina Roitzheim (CPO), and Marius Rackwitz (CTO). The trio debuted the beta product on March 2021, generating a substantial media response due to the timeliness of a product building long-term, sustainable habits to overcome smartphone addiction. The company aims to help the millions of smartphone users who are no longer interested in remaining vulnerable to their attention being hijacked by big tech. nlbb helps anyone get back in control and lean into the wonders of how our phones can keep us connected and entertained without falling into the bottomless pit of mindless use. nlbb’s real-time coach is the frictionless, hyper-personalized companion that works as a lane keeper to help keep you focused on spending your time and attention on what matters most.
You can download founder images, logos, and app screenshots here.