Adam Smith Business School

Inspired by loved ones who had lived with dementia, Susanne Mitschke and Patrick Renner, along with co-founder Roger Arellano (a University of Strathclyde graduate), set up their business MindMate – an app tailored to people over 65 to train the body and brain and help keep them healthy.

Photo albums, to-do lists, quizzes, exercises and healthy recipes are some of the features incorporated into MindMate.

Launched in 2015, MindMate now has more than 350,000 users. It has been the number one seller in the Apple health app chart in 17 countries.

Having each worked with people affected by cognitive decline, for which there is currently no cure, the team wanted the app to make a real difference to people. Recognising they had limited medical knowledge about the complexities of dementia, they worked with Dr Terry Quinn from the University of Glasgow Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences. This collaboration enabled them to translate the latest medical science and best practice in dementia care into their app.

MindMate has the potential to make a huge difference in the care, prevention and diagnosis of diseases that cause cognitive decline.

MindMate’s medical board includes representatives from the Universities of Stanford, Cambridge, Cornell and Glasgow. They’ve also grown their tech capabilities through opportunities such as the Techstars accelerator programme in New York.

The team is continuing to work with Dr Quinn to test the functionality of their app and develop new features. They have also received a grant from Scottish Enterprise to help build their backend technology and sales and business strategy is getting attention thanks to a seed-funding investor in California.

They are now looking for more research partners – universities, clinical researchers and pharmaceutical companies to work with and match MindMate users to clinical trials and help find a cure for dementia.

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First published: 14 March 2018