What is the name of your organization?
The Sunshine Series -Mind Wellness
What is the name of your solution?
MindWellNest App
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
An AI-driven mental health chatbot and telemedicine platform, combined with lay counselor training, expanding mental health access across Nigeria.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Nigeria
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
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What specific problem are you solving?
Nigeria faces a severe mental health crisis, with over 50 million people living with mental health conditions and less than 300 psychiatrists available to serve a population of over 200 million. Access to affordable, stigma-free, and community-based mental health support remains a challenge, particularly for low-income and rural populations who lack access to professional care. Depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are prevalent, exacerbated by poverty, violent extremism, gender-based violence, and climate change.
While primary healthcare centers (PHCs) could serve as frontline mental health providers, most lack trained personnel and do not integrate mental health services into routine care. Digital and AI-driven solutions have the potential to bridge the mental healthcare gap, but existing platforms remain inaccessible to underserved populations due to cost, internet limitations, and a lack of local adaptation.
Our solution leverages AI, telemedicine, and lay counselor training to address these gaps and expand community-based, technology-driven mental health care in Nigeria.
What is your solution?
Mind WellNest is a mobile app and AI-powered chatbot that offers mental health support anytime, anywhere. It provides emotional check-ins, guided self-help tools, and connects users to licensed therapists through telemedicine. We also train lay counselors in primary healthcare centers, equipping them with skills to offer basic mental health support. The app collects user data ethically to improve services and personalize care. By combining technology with trained human support, Mind WellNest breaks barriers of cost, distance, and stigma, making mental health care accessible, especially for people in underserved and rural communities across Nigeria.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
In Nigeria, over 56% of the population lives below the poverty line, surviving on less than $3 a day, according to the World Bank. For many people—especially youth, women, and those in rural or low-income communities—accessing mental health care is nearly impossible. Poverty, stigma, cultural misconceptions, and a severe shortage of mental health professionals create major barriers. Many individuals quietly battle stress, trauma, depression, or anxiety without ever getting the help they need.
Mind WellNest is designed to change that. Our solution combines technology and community-based care to bring mental health support closer to those who need it most. We provide an AI-powered mobile chatbot that offers 24/7 emotional support, along with self-care tools like mood tracking, breathing exercises, daily affirmations, and a crisis support button. For more advanced care, users are referred to licensed therapists and psychiatrists through our secure telemedicine platform, which we integrate into local primary healthcare centers.
We also train lay counselors based in these centers to offer basic mental health support and identify early signs of serious issues. By strengthening frontline healthcare, reducing stigma, and making mental health support more affordable and accessible, Mind WellNest brings hope, healing, and dignity to underserved communities across Nigeria.
