Oneleaf launched a self-hypnosis app in 2023 with $4.6M, betting on a $68 subscription

Mobile app with audio self-hypnosis programs to quit smoking, reduce anxiety, lose weight or sleep better

People will pay for audio hypnosis programs at home, as they do for meditation and fitness apps, and employers will later pay for it as a benefit

$4.6 million (EUR 4.2M) from Frst, Kima Ventures, Raise Ventures and angels, plus Bpifrance equity-free financing

Founder and CEO Eliott Cohen-Skalli said quitting smoking mattered to him, and he discovered hypnosis, which he found better as a digital experience than in a stranger's office. Oneleaf wrote a handful of 21-day programs for smoking, weight management and poor sleep, working with hypnosis professional Laurent Taton and scientists Emily Balcetis and Judith Prochaska.

Oneleaf raised $4.6M from Frst, Kima Ventures, Raise Ventures and angels, with Bpifrance adding hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity-free financing. The app had been live for a few weeks with good feedback, sold the library for $68 with in-app purchases for single programs, and aimed at 10,000 downloads a month through ads, keyword content and influencers.

In-person hypnosis sessions are costly, especially in the US

Self-hypnosis at home suits a relaxed, familiar setting

Meditation and fitness apps showed that subscription revenue works for self-improvement content

Employee benefit packages already pay for wellbeing apps, which could add a second revenue line

A wellness subscription borrows its model from meditation apps; the unproven part is whether a niche like hypnosis keeps users, so the founders planned an employer channel.

As of 2023-01-24, Oneleaf was a few weeks live with early feedback described as good, a $68 library price and a goal of 10,000 monthly downloads; no download or revenue data had been reported.