Butterflies and brain waves: KC-area’s Healium floating with WEBBY nomination
April 9, 2019 | Austin Barnes
A year of traction continues for Columbia-inflated startup Healium by StoryUP.
The virtual reality solution for situational stress and anxiety recently landed a WEBBY nomination for best use of augmented reality, revealed Sarah Hill, the company’s founder.
Healium at InvestMidwest
“A WEBBY nomination for a small midwest company like ours is a big deal,” Hill said of the recognition that pits the startup against such media giants as AMC, NBC Universal, and Viacom-owned Nickelodeon.
Awarded annually, the WEBBY Awards celebrate the internet’s best in key categories, including: websites, video, advertising, media and public relations, apps, mobile and voice, social, podcasts, and games.
Healium secured a nomination for its VR simulation that enables a user to relieve stress by hatching butterflies with their brain waves, Hill touted.
“Healium is for people who aren’t necessarily a Buddhist monk, don’t already have an established mind body connection — but they need something quick that can quickly show them and allow them to see their feelings displayed inside the screen as opposed to having to go through years or months of practice on trying to develop that inner connection on your own,” she said.
Honored by the recognition, Hill said she’s hungry for a win — not just for her startup, but for all Missouri entrepreneurs.
“The winners are decided by the public and it would be pretty cool to have a Midwest company win,” she said. “It’s like an Emmy for the internet. … We need all the votes we can get!”
Click here to vote for Healium in the 2019 WEBBY Awards.
Healium, StoryUp
2019 has already proven to be a year of immense growth for Healium, Hill added.
The startup recently closed a deal to deploy Healium kits on 28 airlines, won $4,000 in a CES sponsored pitch contest and Best in XR at SXSW, and was invited to take part in the 20th showing of the InvestMidwest Venture Capital Forum.
“We completed a Department of Defense innovator cohort, we have revenue, and we’re in the middle of a million dollar seed round,” Hill said of Helium’s continued success.
Click here to read more about the inception of Healium in a TV newsroom.
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Digital Crossroads: Techstars sees hints of KC’s future in its history as a collision point of ideas
Techstars’ Oct. 11 programming during Techweek Kansas City finds inspiration in the past, Lesa Mitchell said, but it focuses on the metro’s future at a digital crossroads. “In the old days, it was called the crossroads because this was actually where all the trains were going through from Mexico to Canada, and east and west…
Jasmine Diane: ‘My Girl Story’ empowerment is bigger than T-shirts, Instagram
Jasmine Diane Cooper dreams of inspiring women across the world with the My Girl Story movement, she said. “[As women] we will tear ourselves down or we look for things that kind of separate us, but we all have the same struggle,” said the social media influencer and rising star on the Kansas City marketing…
Pipeline rotates The Innovators gala to Omaha for celebration of fellows, incoming cohort
Pipeline hopes moving its The Innovators gala to Omaha for 2019 will help keep the premier startup event fresh after more than a decade in Kansas City, said Joni Cobb. “Change and experimentation are what Pipeline is all about,” said Cobb, president and CEO of Pipeline. “We are an entrepreneurial organization, and as such we…
KCultivator Q&A: Lesa Mitchell talks eating eyeballs, remembering names, growing startups
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by WeWork Corrigan Station, a modern twist on Kansas City office space. Growth is a daily driver, Lesa Mitchell said, but it can be limited by the environment around entrepreneurs. “If…