Inside Kinhub’s plan to democratize employee well-being

Image credits: Erika Brodnock

Erika Brodnock describes herself as an outside-the-box thinker. This is no surprise: her father is a founder and she is now an academic researcher in DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) herself. Early on, Brodnock had the drive and understanding that change happens – and data can help drive it.

Last year, she took her passions head on and co-founded London-based Kinhub, a B2B SaaS platform powered by AI to democratize access to coaching and wellness support for employees. She founded the company alongside Helen Yannakoudakis and Jacob Herandi to help employers meet the needs of their workforce. Kinhub helps employees find resources for circumstances like elder care, pregnancy, managing the cost of living, and even navigating corporate environments as a minority.

Kinhub’s onboarding process asks users about their personal lives, such as whether they have children or are going through menopause. From there, the algorithm collects data to then suggest resources to help that user meet their wants and needs. He works with consultants who offer individual support, group sessions and coaching programs. A lot of attention has been paid to the platform’s consultants, Brodnock said: They are of all sexual orientations, neurodivergences and ethnic backgrounds. The focus on diversity was so that every employee could find someone they identified with; in other words, no one was left behind.

“If we connect people to get the support they need to navigate various life circumstances, we will give them the opportunity to bring their best to work,” he said. she declared. “If as an organization you want to encourage more people to come back to the office, we can send one of our consultants to carry out sessions on a particular day if it is more convenient for people to access them at 3 hours in the morning when they have a crying and teething baby. , then we are there too.

Image credits: Kinhub

The Kinhub team has filed patent applications around the technology it uses to create generative agents that understand human emotion and urgency, Brodnock said. Although Kinhub is primarily sold to employers, for three people a company pays, Brodnock says Kinhub offers its service for free to low-income families. This was done with the aim of contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is equality for all.

Although the product is currently only sold in the UK, Brodnock is keen to enter the US market. That’s why she’s crossing the pond to join us at Disrupt Battlefield 200, where her company will compete for the grand prize. Kinhub is in the process of raising a $2.5 million round, with some US investors already in the mix. “We think we will be incredibly well received in the United States, where the market is slightly more tolerant of racial innovation and, we hope, more open to supporting the future of wellness. work,” she said.

Well-being at work has become a major topic during the pandemic, which has exposed and exacerbated a global mental crisis. The result is that more and more employers are looking for ways to extra support the well-being of employees. In the United States, a topic like this is just as urgent, given that health care is very expensive, unlike in the United Kingdom, where public health care is free. Many people do not know and cannot afford the coaching and mental resources that would greatly help them. And that’s another reason why Kinhub is here. “People really need our service and support,” Brodnock said.