OPAL, THE DIGITAL WELLBEING APP RAISES $4.3M IN A SEED ROUND

Opal is your go-to app for Digital Wellbeing. Join thousands of people saving time daily, experiencing more productivity, better sleep, lower stress, and better focus each day. Our app uses a science-backed approach to disconnect distractions from your phone, set intentions, schedule time off, and focus on what matters to you.

We're happy to share that we've raised $4.3M in a seed round led by Nicolas Wittenborn at Adjacent (Speechify, Reflectly, Revenuecat, Photoroom), including Speeinvest, Harry Stebbings, Steve Schlafman, Alex Zubillaga, Kevin Carter (Snap, Pinterest, GroupMe), ISAI, Thibaud Elziere (eFounders, Front, Mention), Jean-Charles Samuelian (Alan), Alban Denoyel (Sketchfab), Secocha, and others to make digital wellbeing more accessible to everyone, through more balanced screen-time and mindful activities.

Over the last 6 months, we've been testing our iOS app in beta with busy people all over the world and have helped them save an average of 2 hours per day on social media, news, and other distracting apps. We've also helped them develop a healthier and more conscious relationship with their phone. If you'd like in on the action (or the lack thereof), download the app from https://opal.so

Why Opal?

In 2020, the average US adult spent 13 hours daily on screens in Q1 2020, or 83% of waking hours (assuming 8 hours of sleep), and "doomscrolling" was officially added.

Phones can make us happy, but lately we spend more waking hours on screens than not and that's not healthy. Social apps and other big companies constantly build their products to be as addictive and as distracting as possible and self-control alone is not enough to fight that.

Spending time on these apps can lead to a lot of good things, but we spend more time on them than we'd like and we also unintentionally open them all the time. Scrolling mindlessly for hours has become the new normal and we've settled for too long.

Read our manifesto for more.

How Opal Works

Opal is on a mission to rewire our screens for mindfulness and keep you in control of how much time you spend on them.

Unlike screen time metrics and other apps, we don't make you feel bad or guilty about your screen time but make you happy about the time that you do choose to spend on a screen.

We do this using a couple different methods:

identify and block distractions
set intentions when you do want to use distracting apps
use apps on timers and set gentle reminders
completely lock yourself out of distracting apps for a set time when you really need to focus or be with loved ones
set schedules throughout the day to keep distractions away or even at night so you actually sleep instead of being on your phone
learn about our screen time, identify patterns of behavior and our different emotional states
receive personalized nudges that will help us find balance each day
receive support from friends

Opal is the only thing keeping me focused on deep work days — Zach

See more tweets from people who love us here.

Screen time affects all of our lives. Opal is the perfect app for people looking to reduce their daily screen time, but also for people who want increased focus, less stress, and better sleep. Using proprietary technology, Opal can disconnect distractions on your phone and help you stay on track.

You can start Opal for short sessions of 5, 10, 60 minutes, or throughout the entire day in the background. You can also schedule focus sessions throughout the week where apps will automatically be blocked. For example during your Sleep, Work, Morning, Study schedules. Opal will fit with your schedule and adapt to your life.

BENEFITS

Save up to 4 hours each day
Reduce stress
Improve productivity at work
Unplug with family and friends
Better Sleep and Mornings
Improve focus when you need it most
100% Guilt-Free and Private

FEATURES

Disconnect distracting apps on your phone, for short sessions of 5, 10, 60 minutes or throughout the day in the background.
Set a timer and write your intention before using apps.
Focus timer that blocks distracting apps without any way to bypass.
Schedule focus time daily where apps will automatically start blocking. For example during your Sleep, Work, Morning, Study schedules.
Check your progress with “Time Saved”. Every time Opal blocks a distracting app we calculate time you saved. "Blocked distractions'" will let you know each time Opal prevents a distracting app from connecting.

CREATE A PERSONALIZED APP LIST

You can add or remove Apps and Websites that qualify as distracting directly from Opal settings in the app. You can find settings by tapping on the settings icon.

We all need different things, you can enable 100+ apps to Opal, including most popular:

Facebook
Instagram
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Netflix
And 100s of others including News, Adult, Gambling categories.

UNIQUE TECHNOLOGY

We use Apple's local VPN technology in order to monitor and disconnect apps you use. Installation is easy and takes a few seconds on your iPhone.

PRIVACY COMES FIRST

Unlike most apps, Opal works entirely on your phone and personal browsing data never leaves your device. You can read our privacy policy in depth here.

OUR CHALLENGES AHEAD

The mission is huge: we want to define digital mindfulness, helping millions develop a healthier and more balanced relationship with screens.

If you're not afraid to take on a trillion dollars industry based on stealing attention, in order to push the conversation further and make technology about people's happiness, join us! We're hiring in engineering, design, product, and other roles.