“Well, it looks like you’ve been having fun recently,” a friend said as he was having coffee with me. There, in the middle of my dining room table, is a device that, now that he mentions it, looks very much like a sex toy. Moonbird’s right to exist is not to raise her pulse and make her breathe heavily. Quite the contrary. The Belgian company has helped more than 35,000 customers to find sleep and relieve stress through breathing exercises.
The bird-like device is super easy to use: shake it, put your thumb on the sensor and the palm-sized device starts to hum gently as it expands and then shrinks back together. Use the “breathing” plastic bird to speed up your own breathing, and your body will be tricked into thinking that everything in the world is copacetic. It really seems like it shouldn’t work, but it does. Science agrees; “Slow breathing can be used as an alternative, non-pharmacological therapy for hypertensive patients to lower blood pressure, ” concludes an article published in Frontiers in Psychology. Harvard Medical School suggests that it is good for stress. And from personal experience, I woke up more than once a week with the little lump of plastic that I tried.
How it works
Whenever I evaluate a technical product, I ask myself“ “Does this really have to exist?” – especially considering the fact that there seem to be more than 2,500 meditation apps available and at least a few dozen breathing exercises or breathing-specific apps. Making more pieces of plastic that inevitably end up in the trash – is that a good idea? The founders of the company make a convincing argument in favor of their existence.
“There are obviously a lot of apps you can use that can support you. But if you’re struggling with sleep issues, the last thing you want to do is grab your phone and open a meditation app,” says Stefanie Broes, founder and CEO of Moonbird, in an interview with TechCrunch. She declares the phone the enemy of sleep. “You’ll be scrolling and doing other stuff. It was really important to me that we develop an unconnected, non-app solution that will guide you to speed up your breathing“There are obviously a lot of apps that you can use that can support you.
But if you’re struggling with sleep issues, the last thing you want to do is grab your phone and open a meditation app,” says Stefanie Broes, founder and CEO of Moonbird, in an interview with TechCrunch. She declares the phone the enemy of sleep. “You’ll be scrolling and doing other stuff. It was really important to me that we develop an unconnected, non-app solution that will guide you to speed up your breathing. If you breathe at a rate that has been scientifically proven to relax your nervous system, you will be calmed down. We had the idea to create a device – a physical thing – that helps by breathing with them. So you don’t have to listen or look at an app, but at a physical object that is moving for you in an organic way.”
Stefanie suffered from insomnia during her doctoral thesis, and her search for a solution led her to work on breathing, which amazed her with its benefits. She noticed a gap in the market. Stefanie’s brother Michael, who was from the fields of Stefanie suffered from insomnia during her doctoral thesis, and her search for a solution led her to work on breathing, which amazed her with its benefits. She noticed a gap in the market. Stefanie’s brother Michael, who comes from the fields of finance and technology, was attracted to the project by the potential to combine medical science with data-driven insights. Together they embarked on a journey to bring Moonbird to life, to defy challenges such as the impact of COVID-19 on supply chains and ultimately to achieve significant market success in Europe.
The device is designed to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and promote relaxation without continuous app connectivity. This simplicity, combined with the option for biofeedback via an app, makes Moonbird accessible to a wide audience, from children to the elderly, according to the company.
With a proven product market adaptation in Europe, Moonbird is now targeting the US market. The Broes siblings are excited about the potential to repeat their success With proven product market adaptation in Europe, Moonbird is now targeting the US market. The Broes siblings are excited about the potential to repeat their success and continue their mission to promote the therapeutic potential of Breathwork. They emphasize the importance of a good product, scientific support and simplicity for success – and have published a white paper and a number of additional scientific findings to back up their claims.
When it comes to the sustainability of its products, the Moonbird team emphasizes that it is doing what it can. The device works without an app, even if the Moonbird company disappears, the product itself will continue to work.
“We produce locally. We have decided to optimize our entire supply chain and logistics to ensure that everything is produced as cleanly and efficiently as possible in order to optimize both the flexibility for production and the impact on the environment, “explains Michael Broes, CTO and Mitbeg“We produce locally. We have decided to optimize our entire supply chain and logistics to ensure that everything is produced as cleanly and efficiently as possible in order to optimize both the flexibility for production and the impact on the environment, “explains Michael Broes, CTO and co-founder of Moonbird. “We also have a 30-day trial period. If the product does not work for you, you can send it back, and we will work it up and sell it again. We have never refused a return or repair.
