Tell us about LaYas Life….
We encourage women aged 35-65 to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviours that are known to promote healthy aging by using gamification techniques – such as rewards, badges, leader boards and challenges – on our health tracking app.
The idea relates to my final project, which looked into the Digital Biomarkers for the Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Women make up two in every three cases for AD and yet there is still no explanation as to why this is the case. Evidence shows us that modifiable lifestyle behaviours such as sleep and exercise can prevent many AD cases and other non-communicable diseases.
Although most women know what they need to do to lead a healthy life, a gap still exists between what we know and what we do. LaYas Life is aiming to find out how we can utilize technology to close that gap on a mass scale.
Why did you decide to enter the Entrepreneurship Institute's Idea Factory Competition?
I was getting a lot of positive feedback about my idea when talking with friends, but I wanted to know if I was truly on to something. As an older student I wanted to make sure I was on the right track and avoid wasting time on unnecessary activities.
What stood out for you from your whole Idea Factory experience?
I did my degree online and am a solopreneur, so I’ve felt very isolated and alone during the process. Idea Factory introduced me to a whole community. Seeing so many peers in the same situation as I am and being around their motivation inspired me. I was also very impressed by the level of support I was given by the experts-in-residence and the networking opportunities available.
What did the winning moment feel like?
It was amazing! There were so many great ideas, so to win was an absolute honour. I was on a high for a couple of days then it all sank in – I actually need to work now to make this a reality!
What’s next?
My focus is on validation. We need to determine that the problem we are trying to solve is painful enough for a large enough group of people to make it a viable business. I’m planning to use the prize money to create a 6-week intensive programme with a group of women to determine whether gamification techniques result in significant habit changes and if so, which ones work best. This will hopefully guide the design of our scalable MVP later this year.
Watch Nasreen’s winning pitch on YouTube.