Can employees achieve ‘deep work’? London-based FLOWN scores £2.5 million to show how

While the pandemic may be almost over, the seismic shift made to how and where we work is here to stay. As individuals and teams continue to transition to a fully remote or hybrid model, responding to employees’ desires for more flexibility and balance in their lives is the need of the hour.

And as wellness takes centre stage, new platforms that are looking to change the way we think and work are gaining momentum. The UK-based startup supporting hybrid offices, FLOWN has raised £2.5 million in funding for its virtual business environment. The seed round was led by Pi Labs and saw the participation of BDMI and Venrex, January Ventures, Auxxo Ventures and Alma Angels.

The latest round comes after the company received £1.2 million in pre-seed funding during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

Founded by Alicia Navarro and Cat Navarro, the online platform aims to help knowledge workers achieve ‘deep work’. By matching them with inspiring properties setup for productive and ergonomic remote work, as well as providing an array of interactive tools and resources, it is providing ideal mental and physical spaces required for knowledge workers to get away from their day-to-day work environments to do their most productive and creative work. The company’s video conference work session is expected to promote accountability and improve focus.

The women-led platform operates using a freemium subscription model with a ‘free forever' option and premium subscriptions from £15 a month.

According to Alicia, FLOWN, the workspace software engages staff creatively and psychologically, allowing them to achieve a state of deep work. “Deep work and flow states will be for the next decade what mindfulness has been for the last. More and more businesses are realising that adopting a deep work culture within their teams and organisations is the key to driving growth and innovation in the business, as well as engagement and satisfaction within their teams.”

Hugo Silva, investment lead, Pi Labs, added: “We invested in FLOWN because, when we imagine what the future of the office means post-Covid, we see services that enable distributed teams to be efficient, creative, and engaged, irrespective of where they are working. Alicia’s plan to build a media company for deep work – taking the playbook of companies like Calm and Peloton and applying it to a workspace – is of its time.”