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Daniel Fridliand would wait for hours at Syracuse University’s counseling center before he could see someone for therapy. He knew resources dedicated to treating students’ mental health could be scarce on college campuses.  

After graduating from SU in 2018 with a degree in marketing and entrepreneurship, Fridliand developed Awning Anxiety Relief, an app that provides immediate mental health solutions to those in need. Awning reviews user feedback to suggest individualized stress relief techniques, including meditation, journaling and listening to music.

“It all includes some physical aspect of being there,” Fridliand said. “Although there are different programs that provide resources on a teletherapy scale, there needs to be a focus on customized activities based on the nature of stress students are dealing with.” 

Fridliand launched Awning with high school classmate Dylan Sen, who studied biology with minors in computer science and psychology at The College of New Jersey. The duo combined their skill sets to design and promote the app.

More people will seek treatment through services like Awning as the stigma surrounding mental illness and anxiety declines, said Sen, who is the CEO of Awning Anxiety Relief.

“Stress rates are rising more than they have in previous decades,” Sen said. “The rate of people saying they have (a mental health) issue is going to go up as people are more comfortable coming forward.” 

Fridliand and Sen have visited different schools and colleges to expand Awning’s student audience. The pair returned to their former high school in New Jersey to implement Awning in the school’s health and counseling offices.

Awning has also helped counselors provide mental health treatment remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. The app allows counselors to check in virtually on their patients’ meditation and journaling exercises as COVID-19 puts many in-person appointments on hold.

SU played an important role in helping Fridliand develop the app, he said. Fridliand pitched the idea for Awning to business coaches and mentors when he brought it to SU’s Blackstone LaunchPad in October 2019. The coaches at Blackstone LaunchPad helped Fridliand and Sen develop new features for Awning and roll out the product to wider audiences.

Linda Dickerson Hartsock, executive director of Blackstone LaunchPad, said Awning was one of her favorite startups because of the product’s timeliness. The app appeals to a generation of people taking ownership of their mental health, she said.

Attracting and retaining consumers is the biggest issue that tech-oriented startups like Awning currently face, Hartsock said.

“It’s always an uphill battle when you’re trying to gain users from the ground up,” Sen said. “We would hang up hundreds of flyers across our campuses. And we saw some uptick from that. But one thing we need is institutions spreading the word.” 

Awning currently doesn’t earn Fridliand and Sen any revenue, and the pair doesn’t have a large budget to invest in advertising or features. They hope to add more elements to Awning in the future, including a smartwatch component that allows users to monitor their stress levels through a heartbeat sensor.

Limited access to mental health treatment is a global issue, Fridliand said. He wants to create a clean, simple product that is available in many spoken languages and to people who have visual and hearing impairments, he said. 

Fridliand and Sen said they want to increase Awning’s popularity with students before trying to expand into additional groups who may require greater mental health support, such as military personnel. 

“I want this to be as human a product as possible, a natural extension of whoever’s using it,” Sen added. “I would also love in the future to construct research that allows more knowledge and data around this type of mental health support.”

Published on May 30, 2020 at 5:11 pm

Contact Richard: rjchang@syr.edu | @RichardJChang1