Václav Štrupl
Still in their early twenties, entrepreneurs Jirka Diblík and Ondra Kopecký already have a decade of experience under their belt. The super talented duo have been friends and business partners since childhood and boast a number of successful projects on their score sheet.
When I met the two founders of the Qusion software development studio last year, they told me they wanted to develop the best self-reflection app in the world. I promised that Miton would help.
The app is called VOS (Latin for ‘you’) and draws on the very interesting and very complex space of digital self. Thanks to technology, today we have access to a tremendous amount of data relating to our health, but we have not yet learned how to use its full potential.
And that’s exactly the aim of VOS – an app for monitoring one’s mood and how it relates to the way we function in the world. In its first version, VOS will take the form of a digital diary, but that is only the beginning.
To learn more about VOS, read the official press release below. And here you can learn more about the Miton Psychonauts fund that we have established to support projects focussed on mental wellbeing.
VOS Official Press Release:
The personal development app VOS wants to help people live better lives through self-reflection. The investment group Miton is supporting this vision with an investment of 5 million Czech crowns.
Prague, 29 September 2020 – The Miton investment group has invested 5 million Czech crowns into the VOS application. VOS is a modern tool for self-reflection built on complex data analysis and the latest in technological advances. VOS offers its users practical and sound advice on topics such as how to have more self-confidence, experience less stress, and live a more contented life. The first version of VOS is rooted in a digital diary.
How it works
Each day, the application poses its user one personalised question relating to their personality or mental wellbeing. Developed by studio Qusion, VOS is the answer to the ongoing debate of whether digital technologies can improve our everyday lives.
The investment group Miton, whose portfolio includes brands like Rohlík.cz, Bonami, Glami, Driveto, and Terap.io, has invested in VOS through its new Miton Psychonauts fund. Intended to support investment in projects promoting mental wellbeing, the fund has been seeded with tens of millions of Czech crowns.
“In today’s very busy world people have little time to themselves, and they are not aware of how important it is to find such time. The motto of our app is ‘Reflect on life, grow in mind’, and we are firmly committed to this message. Miton’s decision to support us confirms our belief that we are bringing something valuable to the market. We will use Miton’s investment on further development of the app as well as marketing and broadening our collaboration with experts in mental health,” says Jiří Diblík, Qusion founder and CEO.
Self-reflection for personal discovery
The VOS app has been developed under the watchful eye of psychology and mental health professionals. Marrying the latest in technological advances and mental health expertise, in the future the app will use complex data analysis to guide its users on the path towards mental wellbeing.
The main function of the app in its first iteration is a self-development diary, which asks users one specific question each day. The same question will return on the same day of the following year. Users can also reflect on their day with an audio recording, a photograph or a video. In short, VOS teaches the user how to self-reflect. The app also works with data from Google Health and Google Fit, information from the user’s calendar, time spent on the phone, and weather data from the local area. VOS aggregates anonymous data and processes it further with the help of artificial intelligence, which looks for patterns and connections in the information and derives from it specific advice for the user. In future phases, the app will be available for download on iOS and Android platforms, through the web, and as a plug-in for browsers or Slack.
Qusion is a software and hardware design studio focused on developing new products, pushing the boundaries of digitization, and helping to build modern brands. The Qusion team of young professionals is regularly bringing new solutions to the market. The company is built on quality, vision and innovation, with clients from many startups as well as multinationals including Air Bank, Innogy, Nestlé, Knihy Dobrovský, ČSOB, Bitstock, Mindpax, FaceUp, and Spicker. The team has developed a number of successful projects as well as mobile and web applications, including entire digital platforms. Recently Qusion expanded its operations into a hardware and engineering arm called Qusion Electronics (QLE). Qusion’s product-specific customized software is responsible for improving the efficiency of the manufacturing process of Swardman mowers by 55% and BOHEMIATEX’s glass fiber production by 85%.
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(The article was written for Czechcrunch.cz - in Czech)
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