We are excited to announce the launch of Ikaria - a new social wellness app, co-founded by Chrys Bader and Sean Dadashi.
Chrys was the co-founder of Secret, an app on a mission to connect people in a more substantive way using anonymity as a means for unlocking expression.
We were seed investors in Secret. I was particularly excited about it because of the early community we saw forming. For example, in the early days, I was able to help someone anonymously in my network who was struggling with multiple miscarriages - something that my wife and I knew all too well. But the community and conversation devolved, as often happens with anonymous social networks, and despite hitting the top of the App Store repeatedly, ultimately the company shut down.
Fast forward nearly seven years, it’s clear that social networks are becoming more and more impersonal. Posts to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. are most often surface-level interactions. And, it’s eroding our offline interactions too. Just look at any table the next time you are out to dinner. How many people are on their phones? Are they talking to each other? Is anyone smiling or laughing?
Path promised years ago to keep your network smaller and more intimate, but it was early - before people were ready to move away from status badging and endless empty scrolling through your ‘friends’ perfect lives.
Most of the studies you read that examine social networks and people’s happiness today would suggest that despite having more access to connected apps, people have never felt lonelier. “Bowling Alone,” written in 2000, foreshadowed the erosion of our spaces to connect with family, friends, and our neighbors and since then it has become even lonelier online.
That’s why we are so excited to invest in Ikaria, a social wellness application that promises to bring people closer together through technology. It’s more than an app, it’s a movement. Chrys and Sean are dedicated to creating a new category of application and bringing social wellness to the forefront. And to create a space where users can connect with the people closest to them and learn what they are really thinking and feeling - what they are most passionate about, what makes them laugh, and what makes them cry - and to help lift each other up.
We are already extremely proud of this team, this company, and this mission — it is deeply aligned with Fuel’s core values - to always put founders first and create a space for vulnerability, compassion, and support.
If you would like to sign up for early access, please follow the link here. You can read more in the company’s blog post or check out the article in TechCrunch here.