Headspace Inc.

Founded in 2010 by Andy Puddicombe and Rich Pierson, Headspace was created with one mission in mind: to improve the health and happiness of the world. With 30 million users in 190 countries, the Headspace app offers hundreds of guided meditations designed to help with everything from stress and anxiety to relationships and sleep.

Headspace was founded in May 2010, by Andy Puddicombe and Richard Pierson. Puddicombe is a former Buddhist monk, and Pierson has a background in marketing and new brand development. Puddicombe cut short his university studies in Sports Science at the age of 22, and travelled to Asia to become a Buddhist monk.

He was fully ordained at a Tibetan Monastery in the Himalayas. In 2004, he returned to the UK on a mission "to make meditation accessible, relevant and beneficial to as many people as possible".

It was whilst running a meditation clinic in London that he met his future business partner, Rich Pierson. Headspace began as an events company, holding mindfulness talks in and around London. Demand from attendees for a way to share these techniques led to Puddicombe and Pierson looking into developing a mobile app, with the first version of the Headspace app launching in 2012. Headspace employs over 100 staff, working between the Los Angeles, San Francisco and London offices.

In June 2017, Headspace hired Ross Hoffman as Chief Business Officer. In June 2018, the company launched Headspace Health, a subsidiary aimed at developing FDA-approved meditation tools which would be prescribed to help treat a range of chronic diseases. In January 2020, Starbucks teamed up with HeadSpace to provide partners with a free Headspace subscription as part of its benefits package. Starbucks chief officer Lucy Helm stated, “Together, we’re on a mission to take a stand, help break the stigma, and get even more partners and their family the support they need.”

Headspace provides guided meditation resources online, accessible to users through the company's website and via a mobile app on the iPhone and Android platforms. Users can access ten days of free content, after which they have the option to take out a monthly or annual subscription or continue with the free trial material. In June 2014, Headspace launched version 2 of its platform.

Content in version 2 of the app focused on four areas once users have completed the Foundation stage: health, performance, relationships and Headspace Pro. The app uses gamification to encourage users to complete and master a level of meditation before moving on to a more advanced section. Each session is about ten minutes long, usually in audio format. In 2018, Headspace introduced sleepcasts — audio content designed specifically to create the right conditions for healthy, restful sleep. Headspace's business model is built mainly on subscriptions. Headspace has been criticised for lack of transparency and consistency in its pricing: subscriptions can cost different amounts depending on the platform it is purchased through (iOS, Android, or the website). For example, in the UK, a lifetime subscription costs £399.99 as an in-app purchase on iOS, but only £299.99 via the website.