“Tallinn is a perfect location for Mindvalley – it’s right in the heart of a vibrant startup community eager to grow businesses as much as develop personally. The mindset here is something of value for sure,” says Vishen Lakhiani, the founder of Mindvalley.
Estonians’ startup mindset and extraordinary success in building unicorns have led Estonia to the top of Europe. The tiny country is in a leading position in Europe when it comes to startups, unicorns and investments per capita. Estonia is home to 1,400+ startups, having 5.5x as many startups per capita as the European average.
“It’s important for us to be in a great location for our employees and authors and it’s exciting to be represented in a country that has the most unicorns per capita in Europe,” says Lakhiani.
Estonia has a world-class track record in building unicorns. So far, Estonia has been the birthplace of 10 unicorns: Skype in 2005, Playtech in 2007, Wise in 2015, Bolt in 2018, Pipedrive in 2020, Zego, ID.me and Gelato in 2021, Veriff and Glia in 2022.
Mindvalley, a world’s top learning app and a new form of university, is built in its European headquarters in Estonia. The company’s new office with high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows is located near the Tallinn harbour, in Porto Franco.
The mindfulness industry is estimated to hit 9 billion dollars by 2027. Mindvalley membership grew by 60% during the pandemic in 2020-2021. The community of students spans across 195 countries and the programs are available in 8 languages (English, Italian, Russian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German and Chinese).
Mindvalley – a new kind of university
Mindvalley, a company with a turnover of 100 million dollars and 20 million followers globally, is kind of a new form of university. Mindvalley and its community of more than 20 million students are committed to life-long learning. The amount of people quitting school is on the rise in many societies. More and more people who choose a gap year over a continuous education path in the usual system. These trends indicate there is room for growth in our educational system. It might seem scary at first, but postponing university does not necessarily mean one does not want to or cannot study. There are other ways to do that in a modern world and this is exactly what Mindvalley aims to offer.
“Want to learn engineering or physics? Great! Today you can learn these online for free on various educational websites. Mindvalley University is not for these skills – but for the skills our regular education system ignores,” says Lakhiani. “Like entrepreneurship, leadership, public speaking, personal growth, health and wellness, happiness, love, parenting, mindfulness, and much more. The skills that truly lead to happier lives and not outdated societal ideas of ‘success’.”
In addition to expanding educational opportunities, Mindvalley is consciously addressing mental health issues – a very concerning topic in societies worldwide. As a side effect of the corona pandemic lockdowns, the problem has grown further, especially amongst children and youngsters. The recent stats are appalling – a 2020 study among young US adults aged between 18 and 35 revealed significant symptoms of depression in 80% of participants. According to recent studies by WHO, around 20% of the world’s children and adolescents have a mental health condition, with suicide being the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25%, WHO’s research also indicates.
The pandemic has thus boosted the already ongoing crisis of mental health, painfully pointing out the shortage of psychologists, therapists and psychiatrists, leaving many in need without help. Many of Mindvalley’s authors and programs are designed to help people handle themselves: find inner peace and balance, build better relationships, and set achievable goals in life – all of these are things not taught in school today and skills many of us lack in our daily lives.
The Mindvalley University – a summer campus in Tallinn
For the first time since the pandemic started in 2020, the Mindvalley community met in person in Tallinn in July. The 3-weeks summer event, called the Mindvalley University, offered a college-style experience for more than 1,500 people from 72 countries. There were more than 300 events across the city of Tallinn to help develop and deepen the skills our regular education system is mostly ignoring.
The story of Mindvalley University began in 2017 when Mindvalley’s founder Vishen Lakhiani decided to take the education concept further by launching a rotating university campus. Originally, the event was created for his family and friends to experience different cultures and encourage their learning and growth through a different kind of direct experience.
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