Wellness as a Service Marketplace

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

We're creating an NFT marketplace for wellness services. Buy an NFT, buy the rights to a digital service to be delivered by a wellness professional.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

The MVP insights will be open for parties interested.

Direct connections between providers & clients

[METADATA] SDG rating

SDG Goal No.3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Our Vision:

Make wellness accessible and affordable for all.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

The Problem

tldr: Wellness services are expensive and inaccessible

The wellness industry is expected to reach $7 trillion by 2025, this suggests that while the wellness industry as a whole is growing, individual wellness providers may not be seeing a proportional increase in their earnings. Wellness providers, such as yoga teachers, personal trainers, dietitians, and mental health professionals, often struggle to earn a fair income due to the significant cuts taken by middlemen like studios, fitness centers, and online platforms. These intermediaries not only limit the earnings of wellness providers but also inflate the cost of wellness services for consumers. For example, yoga teachers face a unique set of financial challenges. Primarily, their income is often based on an hourly rate, which varies across different countries and studios. However, the actual time commitment extends beyond the class duration due to preparation and student interaction, resulting in a lower effective hourly wage. Additionally, those who rent a studio typically pay a percentage of their earnings as rent, which can be as high as 40%.

On the other hand, consumers face high costs for wellness services, as wellness is often perceived as a luxury rather than a universally accessible health necessity. The rise of exclusive brands like Goop or Poosh has contributed to it, turning it into a status symbol.

Moreover, there is a pressing need for new employee benefits in the web3 space. Market volatility and technological advancements have contributed to mental health issues, productivity struggles, feelings of isolation, anxiety, and burnout. Corporate wellness programs are not enough to address these issues, and they can be expensive. Health coaching can cost between $140-$165 for 6 sessions, while employer programs can range from $150 to $1200 per employee per year.

The Solution

tldr: a peer-to-peer platform for delivering online wellness services

Our solution is to build an NFT marketplace for wellness services where:

• providers create NFTs that represent the right to their services
• buyers purchase the exact service they want directly from the provider
• providers get a larger chunk of the profit, buyers get a lower price, because there is no middlemen
• we will work with wellness service providers who are already a part of our community at Adawell DAO and in our network

What does this mean?

• Direct connections between providers and clients.
• Improved well-being for wellness providers and individuals seeking wellness services.
• A more equitable and sustainable wellness ecosystem that benefits both sides.
• Organizations can purchase Wellness NFTs for their teams/communities in the form of 'typical employee benefit'.

The Services

At this stage, the services provided will include:

• Yoga sessions
• Meditation sessions
• Sleep workshops
• Exercise sessions
• Laughter yoga, singing and dancing classes
• In the future, we aim to expand this portfolio with online therapy professionals.

How does it work?

Service providers will create NFTs that represent the right to access one of the following services:

• daily guided meditation sessions
• yoga classes
• personalized home workout sessions with a PT
• personalized meal plan with nutritionist
• sleep improvement workshops
• short and easy-to-follow sessions that that can easily fit into busy schedules

Service providers will experiment with different ways to package their services, and offer these as different types of NFTs, for their customers. For example:

• Group sessions
• 1:1 coaching
• Daily sessions
• Monthly right to join sessions
• Tailored services to fit each individuals/organization's needs
• Even, pay-what-you-will

The Plan

The proposal is a proof-of-concept to validate the idea, the need, and the business model. To do so we will take a minimal technical approach:

1. Create an NFT marketplace using a service provider such as NMKR,
2. Build a sales website that integrates with the store,
3. Onboard wellness providers by working with them to create NFT packages for sale,
4. Put NFTs on sale on the store,
5. Promote services on social media,
6. Coordinate time and delivery method for the service,
7. Validate the service is delivered,
8. Collect feedback from service provider and client on the process,
9. Learn and iterate. Validate the business model.

This proposal is all about testing this idea to see if there is a viable business model here. In the future, we will look to automate parts of this process to provide a fully managed service. This means adding parts to the website to select times for the services, NFT unlocked areas in the website to receive the service, and additional features that will help us scale the marketplace beyond a handful of service providers.

When we establish the platform, we can offer our wellness NFTs for purchase to web3 organizations, we can directly solve the problem of insufficient employee benefits in Web3.

What is unique about this solution?

This platform is a peer-to-peer online wellness platform. It connects wellness service providers directly with customers online. This is a one of a kind platform on blockchain, and one that has few known competitors on the web2 space.

The platform eliminates middlemen such as studios, gyms, companies, etc. and lowers costs, benefiting both providers and buyers. Providers will receive a larger share of the profits, earning fair compensation for their services. Buyers will enjoy lower prices due to the absence of intermediaries and increased demand for group sessions with lower costs.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

Creation of different products that provide value to the Cardano community and wider ecosystem. This proposal does just that. We will produce a marketplace that offers wellness services through the sale of NFTs. This is a brand new product without equal.

Benefits to the wider Cardano Community:

1. NFT Marketplace - Our offerings will be attractive to individuals interested in both blockchain technology and wellness. With the wellness industry predicted to reach $7 trillion by 2025, Cardano may become a leader in the intersection of blockchain and wellness. The Web3 ecosystem is predicted to be valued at over $87B (USD) by 2030, and wellness is expected to play a big role and have a significant impact on it.
2. Improved Wellness - Our initiatives aim to improve the wellness of individuals in the ecosystem, contributing to a healthier and more productive community.
3. Gender Diversity - Data and our own observations indicate a higher representation of women in the wellness industry. By leveraging this demographic trend, we aim to attract more women to Cardano and onboard them through wellness initiatives.
4. Ownership - NFT memberships provide ownership to wellness providers and incentivize them to actively join the network.
5. Hoskinson Health & Wellness Clinic - There is a potential collaboration to address wellness challenges and benefit the Cardano ecosystem. Charles Hoskinson's tweet on Grand Opening of the Clinic can be found here.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

We are Adawell DAO, the first Wellness DAO on Cardano. We were funded in Catalyst Project at Fund 9 for a very small amount to build a wellness knowledge base, a community, and a team. In this time we have:

• hosted 20+ mindfulness events, including meditation and yoga sessions. We offered sessions for communities such as littlefish, Cardano ATH, Metagame
• gathered 15+ engaged members actively improving their wellness and offering their wellness services, 95+ community members
• ran 5+ unique events and workshops, along with live music sessions
• created 10+ wellness toolkits available for the community's benefit

Vision and Mission

At Adawell, we believe wellness is a necessity, not a luxury. Our vision is to make wellness accessible and affordable for all.

We start with our own community. Our mission today is to improve the wellness of our community members.

Our team is made up of experts in wellness and blockchain technologies.

Ada Raimova, a wellness advocate and the founder of the Adawell, wellness DAO in Cardano. I received funding from Catalyst in Fund 9 and delivered the MVP. I've built a knowledge base and community around wellness and my team and I have hosted more than 20 wellness sessions within the web3 space. My goal is to make wellness accessible to everyone, and I know a lot about the wellness world. I have extensive knowledge and a strong network within the wellness, tech, and AI ecosystems.

Oriana Gamrot has a background in biomedical science, while Martina Glibo has a degree in Kinesiology and 15 years of experience teaching yoga. Cha Khan is a blockchain expert and founder of the littlefish Foundation on Cardano, and Praveen Kumar is a software developer with a special interest in wellness for Gen-Zs, using the latest technologies available. Jan Yeo is a Sleep Intervention Facilitator - PR, Communications & Community do-gooder amongst other things. She is also a is Preventive Health Network builder at Happily Ever After.

Together, we have the expertise and capability to deliver wellness initiatives and implement DAO tools to build the most prestigious Wellness DAO on Cardano.

We have attracted wellness service providers who have already done demo sessions and are ready to increase wellness initiatives in the community.

Also, you can find what people think of us here. We are ready to make positive impact on larger population.

Measuring success

We will measure our success from these metrics:

• the number of NFTs (wellness services) sold
• the number of customers
• number of services provided
• number of repeat customers buying another service

All of these metrics will provide good indications of success, but the last one, number of repeat customers is truly the one metric that signals we have a good business model. This is the metric we will look at as we validate the business model. It is the metric that will convince us to push forward with the Proof-of-Concept and build an entire business around it.

The projects outputs will be shared with the service providers in the Adawell community and potential customers through social media.

Sharing with the community will happen as we develop the platform.

Sharing with the customers will happen as we are ready to provide the services.

Once we develop the proof-of-concept. and validate the business model, we will use the results generated from the project to turn the POC into a full on business. We will need to develop or integrate:

• NFT unlocked events directly served on the website or through an integration with an app like Zoom
• Easy scheduling for services
• Extensive details about services and service providers

The main goal of the project is to validate the business idea and model. Our subgoals to get there are:

• launch the marketplace,
• onboard service providers and launch their NFTs,
• create a system to deliver and validate the services are delivered,
• sell 100 NFTs on the platform,
• deliver 100 wellness sessions.

The entire project is thus to validate this business is viable. What will determine if it is viable is:

• there is demand for the services,
• the service providers like our platform and want to provide services,
• we can generate enough revenue to pay for costs and future development

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1 - Build the marketplace, onboard the service providers

Key Activities:

• Build a landing page for the marketplace and launch it
• Build the marketplace through NMKR Store or similar service and integrate to the website
• Promote the marketplace on socials
• Work with service providers in Adawell team and community to craft packages for their wellness services.
• Create NFTs that represent the services to be provided including relevant information in NFT metadata such as the type of service, duration of service, and any other details.
• Prepare a process from NFT sale > pre-service details > delivery of the service > validation of the service and customer feedback.
• Set the NFTs for sale on the platform.

Expected Timeline: 6 weeks

Acceptance Criteria:

• Functional marketplace built with a clean good looking landing page.
• At least 3 wellness providers have NFTs on sale on the platform, offering their wellness services.

Milestone 2 - Make the first sales, deliver the first sessions

Key Activities:

• Promote the platform and services on social media,
• Coordinate with service providers to deliver the service to customers.
• Validate service delivery, collect feedback from customers and service providers to iterate on the process.

Expected timeline: 4 weeks

Acceptance Criteria: At least 10 sessions delivered to customers.

Final milestone - Total 40 sessions provided

Key Activities:

• Coordinate service providers to deliver at least 40 sessions of wellness services.
• Promote the platform to get more customers.
• Learn and iterate on the process from NFT sale to service delivery.
• Repackage services and promotions based on learning.

Expected timeline: 8 weeks

Acceptance Criteria: At least 40 different sessions made in total.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

• Ada Raimova - Project Lead

I'm the project lead and I will make sure that our proposal is delivered successfully. 

I'm a wellness advocate and the founder of the Adawell: Wellbeing DAO. I received funding from Catalyst during Fund 9 and delivered the MVP, established a knowledge base, build a community and a team. I'm passionate about holistic wellness, health optimization, the web3 and blockchain technologies. I firmly believe that wellness should not be a luxury, but rather a fundamental necessity accessible to all individuals. I am dedicated to creating an inclusive space where wellness becomes attainable and achievable for everyone. My dream is to build the first web3 wellness DAO with a great community benefiting a large population. I possess extensive knowledge and a well-established network within the wellness ecosystem and Decentralized Science communities. My areas of expertise and interests encompass Science Communication, Blockchain, Wellness in web3, the Creator Economy, and longevity. I was a panelist in different events including Women of Cardano event. 

I hold a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree and have non-degree education in holistic wellbeing, glucose revolution, sleep deprivation, hormone health, and health optimization. Before founding Adawell DAO, I gained experience including contributing as a wellness researcher in a longevity startup, a researcher in a defense think tank, and working in a public research company. I've also gained valuable insights into the corporate world through roles in HR, finance, and marketing intern at a marina. I am multilingual and fluent in English, Turkish, Russian and Uzbek. Feel free to connect with any questions you may have about Adawell DAO via: 

LinkedIn 

Twitter 

Telegram 

• Martina Glibo - Wellness Services Lead

Martina's LinkedIn

Master of kinesiology and yoga teacher, founding member of Adawell DAO. As a passionate yoga instructor with 15+ years of experience, I share the knowledge and help people transform their lives on all levels physically, mentally and spiritually. Yoga has taught me discipline, appreciation, self awareness, patience it made me stronger, bolder, healthier and happier. I am joyful, positive person, I love my job, I love learning, traveling, meeting new people, new places.Education University Zagreb - Faculty of Kinesiology. 

Facebook of Martina's Studio in Zagreb. 

• Jan Yeo - Sleep Intervention Facilitator, PR, Communications & Community do-gooder

Her LinkedIn and more-Notion page

• Oriana Gamrot - Wellness and Science Research Lead

• Cha Khan - Advisor

Co-founder at littlefish Foundation. 4+ years of experience in software, 2+ years experience building solutions on Cardano.

• Praveen Kumar - Tech Intern

• Healthpan Sage - Advisor

He works in the well-known DeSci and has a passion for practical implementations of longevity research. This includes regular cardio, mobility, balance and strength sessions. After exercise, he believes in implementing the healthiest possible diet that is also practical and tailored for the individual. Healthspan Sage has been working full-time in DeSci since Nov 2021 and prior to that he worked for startups and advised startups on growth and sales.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Development of the website including the landing page and 3rd party NFT marketplace service:

• Development: 500 USD
• Promotion and Marketing: 2,500 USD
• Business Development: 6,000 USD
• Hosting and tool costs: 500 USD

Sub-Total = 9,500 USD

ADA-risk at 25% = 2,325 USD

Total = 11,875 USD

Total (at 0.40 ADA/USD) = 29,687 ADA

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

For less than $10,000 USD, Catalyst will purchase a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in the $7 trillion wellness industry. Within four months, this project will create a new use case for NFTs and a new solution for employee benefits in Web3. The project will generate revenue for tens of wellness providers, spread wellness to many customers, and promote wellness in Cardano and Web3.

If we are correct and there is a viable business opportunity, the $10,000 seed investment will turn into a transaction-generating business that delivers long-term value to Cardano. It will grow to generate 10 times its current transaction value every month.

How we've decided the costs

The work in the proposal can all be done with minimal technical know-how and experience. We price it all at 10 USD/hr, the minimal rate needed to provide a passable wage to our team.

Development: 50 hrs at 10 USD/hr = 500 USD

• Generate a landing page simply with AI tools
• Integrate NMKR or other 3rd party service for NFT sales
• Set up NFT metadata to reflect services

Promotion and Marketing: 250 hrs at 10 USD/hr = 2,500 USD

• digital marketing strategy and messaging,
• promotion on social media,
• NFT drops,
• promotion on Adawell community and other Catalyst communities.

Business Development: 600 hrs at 10 USD/hr = 6,000 USD

• Development of the business process from NFT sale to service delivery
• Working with service providers to develop service packages, price them, and create NFTs,
• Coordinating session date and times,
• Talking to customers and providers, collecting feedback,
• Communicating with providers and customers to make sure services are delivered,

Hosting and tool costs: 500 USD

• A small budget to take care of any tool expenses, such as chatgpt plus, notion, hosting, miro, zoom …

Ada risk at 25%. ADA is known to be volatile. We account for this risk by adding a 25% budget additional cost. This way if ADA falls up to 25% from current price of 0.4 ADAUSD, we still have enough budget to operate.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund Rules and also that data in the submission form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.