[ad_1]
Chris Thompson took his first drink when he was 19.
Over the subsequent 5 years, he started slicing himself off from family and friends, and the isolation fueled his alcohol dependancy. He finally hit all-time low in suburban Philadelphia.
Throughout his last few weeks as a binge drinker, Thompson typically awoke on metropolis sidewalks.
“I used to be shaking with the DTs; all of the issues that include excessive alcoholism,” Thompson mentioned, referring to delirium tremens, an impact of alcohol withdrawal. “I used to be out of solutions when it got here to my alcoholism.”
However on Nov. 22, 2018 — Thanksgiving Day — Thompson started his comeback story.
“It was that day I made a decision my restoration was going to be crucial facet of my life shifting ahead,” he mentioned. “I made a decision that day to go all-in.”
4 years later, Thompson is sober, a budding entrepreneur residing together with his girlfriend close to Bentonville. They relocated to Northwest Arkansas from Los Angeles earlier this yr as a part of the Life Works Right here incentive program.
The nonprofit Northwest Arkansas Council began the $1 million marketing campaign two years in the past to draw proficient individuals to the area. These chosen obtain a $10,000 grant and a motorbike.
Thompson, 28, is the CEO and founding father of Sidekick Cell Applied sciences, creators of Sober Sidekick, a sobriety and restoration app on iOS and Android for individuals battling dependancy or recovering from alcohol or drug abuse. Amongst a number of options, it presents instantaneous nameless sober assist from actual individuals.
Thompson launched the app in January 2019. The rising social community is approaching 150,000 members — there have been lower than 10,000 in January 2021 — and has been downloaded by customers in additional than 150 international locations.
“One of the impactful stats for me is that by the fifth time somebody engages with their friends on Sober Sidekick, their month-to-month threat of relapse goes down by 300%,” Thompson mentioned. “We’ve gamified empathy to the purpose the place for each member who posts, no less than six different members will reply in minutes, if not seconds.”
Thompson mentioned the corporate raised $140,000 from a current Wefunder marketing campaign — with vital assist from Northwest Arkansas buyers — and he’s anticipating to shut a $2 million seed funding spherical in early 2023. He mentioned {that a} world healthcare chief has dedicated to guide the spherical, however he declined to say extra.
“What I really like about Chris is his dedication to studying extra concerning the customers on his platform,” mentioned Emma Willis, the chief working officer for Bentonville-based Enterprise Noire, a nationwide nonprofit centered on supporting Black entrepreneurs. “He’s not simply there to show a revenue. He’s there to make sure he creates an surroundings that proves empathy exists, and humanity is entrance and middle. That’s what drew me to Chris. He’s refreshing and sincere.”
A DIE-HARD SPIRIT
Willis mentioned Thompson’s inspiration resonates. Earlier than returning to Arkansas a couple of years in the past to work for Enterprise Noire, Willis lived in Los Angeles. She beforehand labored with Thompson, who had traveled from Pennsylvania to California in November 2018 to test right into a rehab facility. When he checked out, he remained on the West Coast whereas placing his life again collectively. He additionally started engaged on a brand new aspect mission — an thought for a special type of sobriety app.
“I remembered Chris’ die-hard spirit and by no means misplaced contact with him after leaving California, and I knew he was engaged on this [Sober Sidekick] mission,” Willis mentioned. “I assumed he wanted to get out of California for his product to face out and never be drowned out by all of the lights of [Los Angeles].”
Thompson mentioned Willis instructed greater than as soon as that he ought to relocate to Northwest Arkansas to faucet into the area’s startup scene, to not point out a captive investor viewers.
“To be sincere, I didn’t consider her,” Thompson mentioned. “It went in a single ear and out the opposite the primary few occasions. You’re telling me I’ll have extra traction in Arkansas than in Los Angeles?”
Willis organized digital introductory conferences with varied angel buyers like Ramsay Ball.
“Chris and Sidekick are making unbelievable strides in addressing behavioral well being points by way of a digital neighborhood that’s quickly scaling,” mentioned Ball, who has an intensive background in actual property, personal funding and neighborhood growth.
Thompson finally visited Northwest Arkansas within the spring to satisfy Ball and different enterprise advisers face-to-face. Ball organized for Thompson to have an viewers with one other angel investor and startup adviser, Paige Jernigan.
Jernigan, a Pine Bluff native, labored for 15 years as an funding banker on Wall Road and spent her grownup life working in New York and London. She and her husband purchased a house in Bentonville in 2014 so their three boys, raised within the UK, may summer time within the Pure State nearer to household.
Jernigan splits her time between Northwest Arkansas and New York, working because the director of growth for the Bentonville think-and-do tank Heartland Ahead.
She mentioned she instantly noticed potential in Thompson’s thought and joined the refrain of individuals attempting to persuade him to relocate.
“He may keep in Los Angeles as a result of that’s the place the cash is, or Chicago or New York or San Francisco,” Jernigan mentioned. “However I’ll let you know one thing about Northwest Arkansas that you’re going to get right here that you’ll not get there, and that’s entry — to individuals and mentors who will take real care in creating you as a supervisor and an organization founder.
“There’s not as a lot capital right here, however the variety of people who come by way of this city, given the ‘massive three’ corporations which can be right here … there’s no higher place to be proper now within the U.S. in case you’re a founder.”
Jernigan secured a ticket for Thompson to return to Northwest Arkansas one month later and attend the Heartland Summit, a high-level occasion organized by Heartland Ahead. The 2-day, invitation-only gathering in Might convened roughly 300 policymakers, buyers, enterprise and thought leaders and entrepreneurs from throughout the nation.
Organizers mentioned the purpose was to advertise motion by convening individuals taking part in a job within the success tales of thriving areas of America’s heartland.
Lower than three months later, Thompson’s motion was for him and his girlfriend to maneuver to Northwest Arkansas.
“You could possibly really feel the intentionality right here, the tempo that issues moved,” he mentioned. “That’s what offered me. I simply sensed that this complete neighborhood was a startup, and there was no higher time to get in on it.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Thompson mentioned Sober Sidekick’s development in 2022 can simply be tied to being in Northwest Arkansas. He referenced securing the undisclosed lead investor within the healthcare area for the continuing seed funding spherical. In September, Fortune journal interviewed Thompson for a profile in its “Time period Sheet” enterprise publication.
He mentioned the Division of Protection’s Protection Suicide Prevention Workplace (DSPO) has additionally requested a gathering to discover a attainable pilot program with Sober Sidekick.
“We by no means had a lot issue producing traction from our members on the app; our customers are loyal,” he mentioned. “However we had bother producing adoption within the healthcare area. Since we moved to Northwest Arkansas, that relationship-building has been good. We’ve made tons of wonderful connections, and it’s all resulted from having the ability to shake arms, meet individuals nose to nose and construct relationships.”
Thompson mentioned 95% of Sober Sidekick members are within the U.S., the place, in accordance with the Nationwide Survey on Drug Use and Well being (NSDUH), 19.7 million American adults (aged 12 and older) battle substance abuse annually. However there are development plans on a world scale.
“We need to get our partnerships up to the mark earlier than we focus an excessive amount of globally,” he mentioned.
Jernigan sees that kind of potential, too. And never only for Sober Sidekick however for different purposes underneath the Sidekick Cell Applied sciences holding firm. She mentioned the algorithm is confirmed and may very well be tweaked for varied makes use of.
“Identify the aim for a neighborhood to be in contact with each other, and the algorithm works,” mentioned Jernigan, a Sidekick board member and investor. “Rising by 130,000 customers in 18 months is superb while you [consider] that’s just for one promote it’s addressing proper now. Tweak the algorithm 5 other ways, and you’ve got 5 totally different markets you’ll be able to introduce it. That’s how I take a look at investments, and I used to be blown away by it.”
[ad_2]
Source link
