stories
How an internet connection brings joy to retirement
How an internet connection brings joy to retirement
Written by
Anny Ma
Communications Officer
While some look at society and see cracks that need filling, social entrepreneurs see places to shine a light through.
Mirthy Co-Founders Alex Ramamurthy and Dhruv Haria saw how retirement affected their relatives, who are young at heart, and searching for a way to channel their energy and desire to live a full life. Their venture's name comes from the word 'mirth', which simply means joy and laughter.
Alex had previously volunteered with Age UK and was the Chief Executive of The Care Workers Charity, and Dhruv's background covered being a qualified actuary and data scientist who had focussed in finance and technology.
Alex says: ""Both Dhruv and I witnessed the effects retirement was having on our parents. We noticed their wellbeing was being affected by increasing time alone and inactivity, whilst their social circles were shrinking too. We knew that our backgrounds could create a solution that reimagines retirement for our parents, and millions of others.""
Mirthy is free to register, and then open to explore the wide range of expert-led events and content created and curated ""by over-60s for over-60s"", usually run by hosts of similar age to the attendees.
Events are interactive and social, including educational talks, dance classes, arts and crafts, cooking, and so much more. Some events – like book clubs – are free, with other events available for £2.99. To further the accessibility, a monthly £4.99 fee offers members unlimited access to the full calendar of events.
The platform's priority is older people, and is in high demand, reaching over 35,000 users since launching in 2020.
Firmly centring this audience is critical to Mirthy's scale up journey, whether that's in the challenges they face or being responsive to needs. The ageing sector requires unique and scalable solutions, and Alex and Dhruv are determined to figure out how they can successfully grow their operations to deliver their high-quality service to more users across the world.
UnLtd's social venture accelerator Thrive was designed to offer intensive support to ventures like this, who are ready to grow their impact in a sustainable way.
""We were attracted to Thrive because of the strong network UnLtd has, the learning opportunities for founder development, and potential access to investment. Our venture manager offered us useful training through 1-2-1 sessions, and useful outsider's opinion of our key challenges and brainstorming ways to overcome them"", notes Alex.
While the premise of Mirthy was always a platform that is direct to customer, part of their scale up journey has been their business to business (B2B) partnerships, such as with the UK's largest retirement housing developer McCarthy Stone. By using their insights and audience knowledge, Mirthy delivers a bespoke package of online events to over 20,000 of their homeowners, designed to enrich the experience of living within McCarthy Stone developments.
Having research and evidence from surveys, as well as customer development calls, offers Mirthy a significant advantage when it comes to partnerships. Mirthy has partnered with local clubs, and groups such as The NHS Retirement Fellowship (NHSRF) and U3As, who can tangibly see the evidence that Mirthy are a strong investment which will benefit their communities.
A recent Mirthy survey showed 81% of users would continue to attend online events and classes after the end of lockdown. This supports Mirthy's digital-first strategy for activities and community, even after the easing of lockdown restrictions.
The digital divide was heightened by the pandemic, with many people in later life having to quickly pick up digital literacy and confidence. The NHSRF has a membership of over 8,500 people, many of whom weren't using all of the technology younger generations were taking advantage of. They adapted to Mirthy well, with one event reaching 783 registrations, and feeding back their appreciation of the events and social elements around them too.
The CEO of NHSRF, John Rostill OBE, says: ""When the offer from Mirthy came, a surprisingly large number of members accepted the challenge and have participated in the live talks to date. For members who have been self-isolating the experience has been especially important helping to relieve loneliness. Mirthy events are now a regular date in the calendar that very many of our members look forward to.""
Reflecting on their time with UnLtd, Alex notes: ""UnLtd's support has helped us during the fundraising process, and more generally to bounce ideas back and forth, while also giving us access to support opportunities such as the Salter Baxter Innovation Day"".
Mirthy recently made headlines for raising £800,000 - over double their initial target – in a pre-seed investment round led by Ascension's Fair By Design Fund, with participation from Ada Ventures, Redrice and True Global. The funding has helped Alex and Dhruv to hire five new team members who share their focus on growing the organisation, its number of users, and launching new products and services to suit their needs.
Are you a social entrepreneur ready to take on investment, or prepare to scale? Learn more about UnLtd's opportunities here.