A World Built for Every Mind

Throughout my time in venture and corporate innovation, I was surrounded by brilliant ideas and talented teams. We launched dozens of pilots and reviewed thousands of startups a year. But I often felt something was missing. So many projects were focused on optimizing another business process or helping a large company squeeze out a few more percentage points of revenue. There was a distinct lack of mission, of solving a fundamental human problem. It became clear to me that real impact wasn't about marginal gains for corporations; it was about improving people's quality of life.

AutiHD didn't begin with a business plan or a decision to 'launch a startup.' It started with people. Before we wrote a single line of code, we spoke with dozens of individuals, listening to their real, daily challenges. The idea was constantly evolving, reshaped by their lived experiences with autism and ADHD. This process taught me the most critical lesson my prior experience had pointed toward: always start with the user's problem, not your own imagination of it. We continue that practice today, staying incredibly close to our users and adapting our solution based on their feedback. It’s a continuous conversation.

Yes, as a journalism student, I did a project on a community for autistic children, and it left a permanent mark on me. I was absolutely amazed by their talents. Some of these kids could play the piano with incredible skill, while others created breathtaking drawings. But it was heartbreaking to see how the system was failing them. The focus was never on nurturing their unique gifts; it was always about making them more 'convenient' or forcing them to be 'uniform.' That dissonance, seeing so much potential being stifled, stayed with me for years.

It was transformative. Almost 15 years after that journalism project, I moved to Luxembourg and met Joël. He truly opened my eyes to how narrow and stereotyped society's view of autism still is. Honestly, my main association came from the movie 'Rain Man.' So when I met Joël, who is this incredibly intelligent and funny person, it just didn't align with my preconceived notions. Hearing his story, I had a crucial realization: the challenges don't just stop after childhood. They persist through university and into the workplace, where people are once again pressured to fit into rigid boxes, often at the great expense of their talents. It struck me that despite the time and geography, the fundamental problem of acceptance was the same. That’s what makes our mission feel so urgent.

Certainly. Our AI is designed to be a personal companion. It works by detecting stress levels from a combination of health data and contextual information, things like sleep patterns, step count, calendar load, and even ambient noise levels. Based on these signals, it suggests tailored coping strategies in the moment. That could be a specific breathing exercise, a recommendation for a micro-break, or a prompt to reframe a task that might be causing anxiety. The goal is for the AI to learn individual patterns and offer adaptive, personalized support.

You’re right, trust and clarity are absolutely critical. Our approach is grounded in the principle of explainable AI. For every suggestion the app makes, the user can understand the signal that triggered it. There's no black box. We are fully GDPR compliant, but we go a step further by giving users granular control. They can opt in or out of specific data uses at any point, and we are completely transparent about what data is collected and precisely why we need it. It’s about building a tool that serves the user, and that starts with respecting their privacy and agency.

Our model is designed to meet users where they are. For individuals, we offer direct B2C subscriptions through the app store. But we also partner with employers and institutions who purchase B2B2C vouchers for their employees or patients. This creates multiple pathways for access. The early traction has been very encouraging. Our retention is currently at 58%, and the most-used features are consistently the AI support chat and the organizer. This tells us we're on the right track with providing both in-the-moment support and tools for structuring daily life, which directly informs our next six months of development.

Luxembourg is a perfect testbed. It's compact, multilingual, and incredibly well-connected, which allows us to get direct market feedback and implement changes very quickly. We have close relationships with local institutions that work with autistic people, keeping us grounded in real needs. Looking forward, our key scaling strategy is reimbursement. We are actively working to have our solution covered by insurance, which is becoming more feasible as European countries adopt flexible policies for digital health tools. Our focus markets are Luxembourg, Germany, and France, where we see both growing demand and evolving reimbursement frameworks, like the DiGA path in Germany.

I believe the future workplace will be profoundly more flexible and human-centered, where neurodiversity is simply a part of the human fabric, not an exception to be managed. This isn't just about HR policies; it's about recognizing that how a person feels in their daily life directly impacts their performance at work. That’s where Mindory plays a unique role. We focus on supporting people with autism and ADHD in their everyday routines, from organizing tasks to managing stress. When people feel more confident and less overwhelmed outside of work, they can bring their best, most authentic selves to their jobs. So, our platform is less a 'workplace tool' and more a life companion that naturally fosters more inclusive and effective teams.

We work directly with employers on several fronts. We conduct workshops to build awareness and understanding around neurodivergence. We also offer audits of existing workflows to identify and reduce stress triggers for autistic and ADHD employees. Beyond that, we provide mentorship programs to help teams adapt and create more supportive, flexible environments. It’s a hands-on approach designed to create real, sustainable change within the organization.

The most critical systemic change is awareness. Society, by and large, still frames neurodivergence as a childhood issue or, worse, a problem that needs to be 'fixed.' We desperately need education and policies that reframe it for what it is: a different way of thinking that comes with its own unique and valuable strengths. Until we shift that fundamental perception, we'll always be working against the current.

The future we're building is one where inclusion isn't a special initiative; it's just the way the world works. It’s a world where every person has the opportunity and the support to develop their unique talents. It's not just about opening the door for someone; it's about ensuring the room they enter is one where they can actually grow and thrive. Every step we take, whether it's improving our app or educating an employer, is a step toward a future where our differences are not things to be hidden, but are celebrated as our greatest assets.