My Time founder rewarded in Tech for Good Challenge
A BIRMINGHAM-based start-up has been included in the 11 winners of the Tech for Good Challenge, which aims to showcase England’s most innovative early-stage ventures and whose imaginative use of digital technology promises to have a profound impact on the future life chances of young people.
My Time is a provider of psychological, psychiatric and family therapeutic mental health services. The business was created by 27-year-old Amra Dantović, a Bosnian war refugee who settled in Birmingham after the conflict.
My Time aims to bridge the disparity between adult and young people accessing mental health services; a disparity that Ms Dantović believes is responsible for many young people falling through the cracks in society.
The business is developing an app which will provide young people with information and guidance before they reach a mental health crisis.
The Tech for Good Challenge forms part of Big Issue Invest and Nominet Trust’s commitment to inverting the traditional funding and CSR model by ensuring corporations engage with the ventures in which they are investing.
The first Tech for Good Challenge has the support of five corporate partners: Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, LDC, The MITIE Foundation, Salesforce Foundation and Unity Trust Bank. It also has backing from The Big Lottery.
Annika Small, CEO of Nominet Trust, said: “Digital technology has transformed how we communicate, how we work, how we buy and sell, and how we learn. The Tech for Good Challenge demonstrates how technology can also transform how we address big social problems, in this case creating greater opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalised young people.
“If we are going to have any chance of solving our society’s pressing problems, we need to come together like never before across traditional sectors and disciplines. Key to the success of the Challenge has been the opportunity for charities and social enterprises to benefit from the ambition, experience and skills of corporate mentors who have helped the ventures on the path to high growth.”
The £50,000 prize money awarded to My Time through the competition has enabled it to put the new app into the development stage. The business also received professional mentoring from the MITIE Foundation.
Nigel Kershaw, Chief Executive of Big Issue Invest, said: “There are a lot of good people out there using technology in exciting new ways with the potential to achieve truly great things. The Challenge was to find those with a true passion for innovation and the power to transform the lives of young people.
“Unlike Dragons’ Den, all the teams and mentors were winners, benefitting from a true exchange of ideas and learning from each other. Most importantly, we have succeeded in what we set out to achieve: bringing ventures and corporations together to create high-growth ventures with a far greater chance of delivering long-term social value and financial returns.”
