Lake Geneva-based
Joy Research, the edtech startup that's developing the app JOY HELPS, has named
Steve Cindrich as its new chief executive officer.
"Joy Research has grown rapidly, given that this was just an idea in May of this year," said
Dave Gee, co-founder and board president of Joy Research. He served as the startup’s founding CEO. "We have pilots throughout the U.S. and Ukraine, raised $300,000 in pre-seed capital, launched our beta, and are building out a rockstar team committed to our vision of improving and saving the lives of young adults everywhere."
JOY HELPS is a smartphone app designed for college and high school students. It was created to be a “student success and wellness app” that can help users navigate the challenges of handling mental health and overall health while juggling their academics.
JOY HELPS provides a research-based, AI-driven anxiety and stress management app to improve student success, well-being and college student retention.
Cindrich has several years of experience as a health care executive, most recently serving as president and CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based OhioHealth. He’s previously worked at HumanaOne. He is also currently an executive advisor with Los Angeles-based COPE Health Solutions, a national services firm enabling risk arrangements for health care payers and providers.
"We are in the process of raising our $2 million seed round, accelerating growth, and building out our fantastic team. Having worked with Steve at Humana, I could not have considered anyone more qualified," said Gee.
JOY HELPS was developed by researchers, entrepreneurs and students from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Marquette University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Stanford University, Mayo Clinic and more. It is the fifth startup Gee has helped launch. He is currently an entrepreneurship instructor at Marquette University.