Decoding brain patterns to nurture mental health – Alena founder Mandana Ahmadi

UKTN | The Podcast

Dr Mandana Ahmadi, the founder and CEO of mental health app Alena, discusses how technology can be a tool to support mental health, her journey as an Iranian immigrant to a UK-based startup founder and how artificial intelligence has yet to replicate real human emotion.

Ahmadi moved to the UK from Iran with a joint passion for technology and psychology. London-headquartered Alena is harnessing computational neuroscience to decode the mental patterns that drive social anxiety. It has raised $3.6m in funding since it was co-founded by Ahmadi in 2019. Before Alena, she co-founded and served as CTO for TAINA Technology, a regulatory technology company that helped financial institutions comply with requirements.