It was tough to know what was going to come out of Health Puzzle, the Helsinki-based app developer working somewhere in the quantified self and health area to unify your data together. The company originally came out of AaltoES’ Summer of Startups batch in 2012 and since has stayed up there in the Helsinki startup scene’s consciousness without any releases. With the launch of Apple’s Health app it was easy to assume Health Puzzle would be one of those companies that would fizzle out with a giant player like Apple having the mission to unify data, but in 2014 Health Puzzle spun off a new company, called Fifth Corner Inc., of which Nelli Lähteenmäki is still CEO.
Now with the new year getting people thinking about what healthy steps they can do in their lives, Fifth Corner announces a partnership with Jamie Oliver, the TV Chef with a line of cooking products for their newly released YOU-app, an app designed to motivate users towards better wellness though micro-actions.’
In the app users are encouraged to try new food, activity, or mindfulness actions and then take a picture of it. For instance, now the app recommends I share a picture of a great meal I had recently, to do 10 squats and take a picture of it, or to stop and take a picture of the moment I’m in to appreciate being alive. These posts are all thrown in together into one big feed, allowing you to like or comment on other peoples’ posts.
Traction seems to be good. Scrolling through I’m seeing a lot of fridge photos from just 4 or 5 minutes ago, which is a good sign that Fifth Corner and Oliver can motivate people to share images as silly as their fridge. Whether these users are also cleaning their fridge as suggested by making Oliver’s suggested minestrone recipe is another question, but you have to start somewhere.
“Your wellbeing is the sum of all those small actions you take every day, and every choice you make is significant.” says Nelli Lähteenmäki, CEO & Co-Founder of Fifth Corner Inc. “Our philosophy is different from many other health apps – we believe data-heavy measuring and dashboards can be useful for some,
but do not inspire behavioral change in all of us.”
With the release, Fifth Corner also announces a seed-financing round of $550k, led by London-based VC Wellington Partners and angel investors from Finland and the UK.
