Northern Ireland tech company secures £640,000 to empower healthier screentime and productivity habits...'big tech companies have monetised our time and attention'
Backed by Co-Fund III and high-profile investors, screen time productivity app Fluid Focus is scaling up its wellbeing platform and targeting U.S. partnerships with universities and businesses
Northern Ireland tech company Fluid Focus has secured £640,000 in investment from Co-Fund III and a network of business angels across the UK and Europe, to grow its team, enhance its core product and expand in new markets, beginning with the United States.
Founded by Belfast’s Glenn Stephenson and Connor Mason, Fluid Focus is an app which rewards users for healthier screentime and productivity habits. Users can earn ‘Fluid Coins’ for reducing time spent on distracting apps and spending time in productivity sessions, which can then be exchanged for rewards including weekly giveaways and charitable donations.
The company recently completed a research programme in partnership with globally renowned generational theorist, Dr. Paul Redmond, of the University of Liverpool, with 18 academic institutions and over 2,800 students taking part. The research investigated how Gen Z interact with technology and gave them a platform to share how smartphones are impacting their studies, focus, sleep, and broader mental wellbeing. It discovered that current students spend on average 5.5 hours on their phone every day, which amounts to 25 years of scrolling over their waking lifetime, if their habits remain unchanged.
Fluid Focus’s plan is now to expand the team and establish a presence in the United States with a focus on building partnerships with academic institutions and businesses to provide its service for students and employees to enhance productivity, wellbeing and general lifestyles.
The funding round attracted a diverse group of distinguished local and international investors, with strong participation from Co-Fund III, managed by Clarendon Fund Managers. Among the angel investors are serial entrepreneurs, CEOs, seasoned technology investors, and leaders from Apple, Airbnb, top-tier global banks and law firms.
Connor Mason, co-founder, Fluid Focus said: “The reality is the big tech companies have monetised our time and attention. Every second spent on their platforms translates to revenue. The incentivisation model is all wrong, which is why we as a society are realising a broad range of negative outcomes, from diminishing attention spans to rising anxiety and body image issues. Our mission is to restore individual agency, empowering people to lead healthy, intentional and fulfilling lives.”
Jill Wilson, investment associate, Clarendon Fund Managers explained: “Fluid Focus has tapped into the public’s desire for a healthy relationship with technology with a research-led approach and has great potential for growth, particularly in the Gen Z market. We’re excited to see how the company develops and grows with this investment.”
Glenn Stephenson, co-founder, Fluid Focus added: “As a Belfast-born company with global ambitions, this investment marks a major milestone and sets us up to expand into the U.S. market. The challenge we’re tackling is universal: people are overwhelmed by tech that’s designed to keep them hooked.
"Fluid Focus is proud to be at the front of a growing movement to flip that model - rebalancing how people interact with their devices and giving individuals and institutions the tools to take back their time, focus, and wellbeing.”