How Evolve Built an Inclusive Mental Health App from India for the World

In this episode of Millionaire Mondays, featured in Startup Spotlights, an initiative by Google Play, we sit down with Anshul Kamath and Rohan Arora, founders of Evolve, a mental health platform, with a special focus on the LGBTQIA+ community.
Since its inception in 2017, Evolve has helped over 1 million people across the world, in the uplifting and well-being of their mental health.
00:00 Intro
03:51 Story of Anshul
08:47 Rohan's Story
12:36 How Both of them Met
17:32 Evolve's Early Days
21:28 Early Financing
23:20 First Fundraise
27:29 Recognition by The Google Play Store
29:36 Building for the World
31:39 Evolve's Business Model
35:24 Decision to build for LGBTQ+ community
45:55 Is Evolve B2B or B2C?
50:18 Future Roadmap
53:09 Looking Back
58:31 Founder's Future Ambitions
1:04:24 Outro
When Anshul and Rohan initially started Evolve in 2017, it was a mental health app for everyone. However, in 2021, the team pivoted towards an LGBTQ+ first app after seeing some early signs of traction.
The reason according to the founders is that “the LGBTQ+ community is one of the fastest growing user segments globally and research shows that members of the community are almost 4 times as likely to experience serious mental illness compared to the general population”.
Evolve’s core team comprises people from diverse gender identities and sexual orientations and this helps them understand first-hand the struggles and challenges of the LGBTQ+ community when it comes to mental health and wellness.
What makes Evolve different from the other mental health apps in the market is its focus on community building. So while other apps focus primarily on virtual content, Evolve has a thriving community where users can discuss and share their experiences to normalise stressors.
(Social Links)
Google India’s IG:
/ googleindia
Google India’s X:
x.com/GoogleIndia
x.com/googledevsin?lang=en
Google India’s TH-cam:
/ @googledevelopersindia
/ googleindia
Google’s Global TH-cam:
/ @googledevelopers
Google India’s LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/showcase/goo...
Evolve’s LinkedIn: / evolveinc
Evolve’s Instagram: / evolveapp_
Evolve’s X: x.com/evolveapp_
Anshul Kamath’s LinkedIn: / anshulkamath
Rohan Arora’s Linkedin: / rohan-arora5
Anshul Kamath’s X: x.com/anshulkamath
Anshul Kamath’s Instagram: / anshulkamath
#mentalhealth #StartupSpotlights #GooglePlay
[This podcast is sponsored by Google Play.]

[@YTStudio-lb5ls]

Great podcast 🔥🎥
Informative and useful also 🧠📈

[@hritz3988]

You can't build a startup that deals with first world problems in a third world country.

[@Harmanjit01]

You guys need to change the channel name .
Please think about it.
Just like " soch by mohak mangal " changed to "mohak mangal"
This current name BWM is way too long .
Kindly take this suggestion otherwise this channel gonna d!e .

[@backstagewithmillionaires]

Any name suggestions? -Caleb

[@Harmanjit01]

@@backstagewithmillionaires probably that Indian guy who come up in the videos ( if that channel belongs to you two guys )
His first name and your first name , 🤔 probably.
I am not good at this 😭.

[@Elodie12313]

​@@Harmanjit01 रोडपति से करोड़पति...

[@kunaljain2204]

Just "backstage" name looks and sounds so good, keep this in options list.​@@backstagewithmillionaires

[@knextkoder]

Dear God, what is this?

[@abc_cba]

too easy for your shhh-loaded brain to comprehend?

[@knextkoder]

​@@abc_cbawhy are gay people so toxic?
I'm here for startups, technology and human progress. Not some inclusivity mindfulness BS

[@tamanna4697]

​@@knextkoder but it IS a startup 😭 what you yappin about

[@knextkoder]

@@tamanna4697 technically, but where are the founders who are actually innovating?

[@tamanna4697]

​@@knextkoder there are plenty who are 'innovative' by your terms, jus cause you don't know about them doesn't mean there aren't any, it jus shows you lack gk in this domain lmao keep yourself updated by watching tech news I'd say

[@You-ov3yb]

Why the fake accent man 😂😂😂

[@user-ok8qb7ee6z]

What are you talking about. He's not Indian by background

[@backstagewithmillionaires]

Are you talking about me, Rohan, or Anshul? -Caleb

[@You-ov3yb]

Ofcourse not you Caleb. Sorry I wasn’t specific enough. I was referring to Mr. Anshul.
Anyway great work Caleb.