GINGER
Founders: Anmol Madan & Karan Singh
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Year Founded: 2010
Year Romulus Invested: 2012
Ginger.io is a smartphone app that provides comprehensive, round-the-clock care for people experiencing stress, anxiety, and/or depression. The app taps into users’ mobile phone data, alerting high-quality professional clinicians to warning signs. A personalized care team helps users cope with whatever might be provoking their symptoms.
Ginger.io’s large data set allows the company to use machine learning to detect complex behavior patterns, predicting when a user may need help and offering personalized care at the appropriate time. The company is a spin-out of the MIT Media Lab and, like many of Romulus’ companies, is employing artificial intelligence and machine learning to offer empathetic solutions to distinctly human problems.
The Ginger-Romulus story:
Ginger.io came out of the MIT Media Lab when the technology industry was in a down cycle and getting funding was hard. When we met him, founder Anmol Madan wanted to start a company he called Social Sense, which would allow consumers to evaluate their social aptitude using their phones. As our conversations continued over the course of a year, his vision evolved to focusing on healthcare, and we became the first investor in the company. “Gingerd, as it was known then, was my first introduction to some of the most interesting machine learning work coming out of MIT,” Krishna says. “As I read Anmol and Sandy’s research papers, I realized what they were doing was truly fundamental.”
Romulus value in action: Authentic. Being open and transparent is at the heart and soul of Ginger.io’s empathetic AI for patients with mental health needs. The company was one of the earliest advocates for authentic dialogue with patients, and it provides a personal advocate for each and every user.