Clanbeat, the Estonian startup poised to bridge the student mental health gap, began its life as a personal growth and organisational culture support platform. As the COVID-19 pandemic began to highlight the world’s deepening mental health crisis, particularly worryingly in the case of young people and children, Clanbeat swiftly pivoted to supporting students in becoming well-balanced human beings along their journey through the school system.

In Estonia, there is one school psychologist for every 800 students. And that’s what it’s like on the lucky side. In refugee schools in Jordan, for example, there is one psychologist for a staggering 3000 students. Mental health issues are on the rise but resources are scarce.

Today, the Clanbeat app addresses this gap by empowering students to take charge of their life. From allowing teachers to easily identify students’ needs to students building their own autonomy and resilience, the app provides a science-backed solution to a universal problem. Clanbeat’s technology takes two minutes to set up, giving teachers the power to do their work better and also providing them with an overview of who of their students is struggling.

Bringing impact where it’s needed

As one of Estonia’s promising startup founders presenting on stage at Unicorn59, Kadri Tuisk highlights that nearly a third (32%) of students are reporting trouble with sleeping. Almost as many (27%) regularly wake up believing they’re going to have a bad day.

In the bigger picture, this is just the tip of a frightening iceberg. Mental health issues can deeply affect young people’s lives and futures, from general wellbeing to their entry into — and performance in — the labour market. All told, directly and indirectly, mental health issues cost entire economies massive sums.

Money aside, lives are at stake.

“We saw many people struggling with isolation and mental health during COVID,” Tuisk says. “We saw that there was a big spike in mental health issues. COVID made this really evident, and now everyone is seeing that this is hindering people’s lives and potential.”

For Clanbeat, the clear solution is to support youth mental health through technology — systematically and backed by data. Or, as Kadri Tuisk puts it in more humane terms, “We give students the resilience to tackle whatever life brings. We’re helping them understand what holds them back and what gives them energy.”

Rising to a global challenge powered by Estonia’s unique startup ecosystem

The problem of youth mental health is universal, but Estonia is the ideal testbed to start unravelling it. Founded and based in Estonia, where the level and quality of government and private sector cooperation is famously high, Clanbeat is perfectly positioned to tackle this massive societal issue. “Estonia is a unique place to build a startup,” Kadri Tuisk says. “It’s a close-knit ecosystem with expertise you can call up with just one phone call. This has given us speed, which is also reflected in our success.”

Beyond bringing their app to the world, Clanbeat is also partnering with Accelerate Estonia to set the stage for a qualitative leap in promoting mental health and preventing issues in young people. This will involve creating and testing a new way to map students’ mental health status in real time. Additionally, Clanbeat is testing how technology can provide access to mental health resources for all students. This is slated to culminate in the creation of a marketplace for mental health services.

This technology-based solution will enable students to bypass overburdened systems that do not adequately address their mental health needs. Instead, students can reach out directly to trusted service providers, while service providers are also able to reach students more easily.

Looking ahead: Unlocking the potential of the next generations

Having captured 40% of the Estonian market and already reached 720 schools around the world, Clanbeat is next focusing their efforts in the UK.

In the longer term, their goal is no less ambitious than making mental health services and self help available for each child.

“No child should be without help when they need it,” says Tuisk. “But there are not enough specialists, and there’s still a taboo around mental health. We are able to eliminate those hurdles and unlock the potential of our youth.”

Touted as a potential unicorn-to-be on the Estonian startup scene, Clanbeat, however, is not focusing on any particular valuation number. “We’re not measuring our value in money, but in impact,” Kadri Tuisk says. “The world is ready to deal with these problems — and it’s needed.”

If you’re passionate about student mental health and interested in investing in Clanbeat, don’t hesitate to get in touch via our e-Consulting service — and maybe you can catch a ride on Estonia’s next unicorn.