University of York friends and alumni Toby Cannon and Michael McCreadie have just launched Myles Wellbeing, a platform providing inclusive physical wellbeing for desk-based workers.
Originally the young entrepreneurs launched a physical challenges app, called Myles Challenges, but now have adapted their product to focus on wellbeing.
Their original app is still being used in conjunction with York's Marathon Month, in October 2022. In this month, participants will be given the opportunity to complete their own virtual 26.2 mile marathon challenge for Mentally Fit York. To support their participants, runners will be given access to the Myles app from 1 October, to track their progress.
After discovering a lack of initiatives for employee wellbeing, Toby and Mike re-launched their app to create a product to encourage employers to support the physical wellbeing of their employees.
By connecting with over 30 smartwatches and fitness apps, at Myles Wellbeing, users are able to compete with colleagues and earn rewards for hundreds of activities and sports, not just steps. The platform incentivises behavioural change by looking at participants' improvement month on month.
Myles Wellbeing uses an algorithm based on ‘metabolic equivalent tasks’ to compare running with yoga, rowing with dance classes and walking with tennis to enable users to earn points equally. These can be seen on a leaderboard and exchanged for a range of rewards.
Toby Cannon received a First Class Degree from the University of York in Computer Science in 2016 and spent over two years working as a software engineer before launching Myles Wellbeing. Similarly, Michael McCreadie also received a First Class Degree from the University of York, but in Business Management in 2017 and has experience working on other startups.
With 45 percent of Gen-Z and Millennials saying they have experienced burnout at their current job, Co-founder Michael McCreadie highlights the importance of employee wellbeing in the workplace: “It isn't just nice to have, it's a necessity if you want to grow a sustainable business.”
Founder and CEO Toby Cannon said, “We’re the first generation that need to build physical activity into our day to day lives. We’re super excited to launch Myles Wellbeing to support employees in creating sustainable wellbeing habits”.
At Nouse, we wish our York alumni and friends the best of luck in their employee wellbeing business venture.
