Rocapine’s Series A bet on habit-forming apps without addiction
Rocapine’s Series A investment in wellness app funding refers to the company’s €11.2 million (USD 13 million, approx. RM60.0 million) raise to build habit-forming apps that prioritise user wellbeing over engagement, aiming to prove that ethical app design and mental health technology can scale without relying on addictive hooks or attention-maximising tricks. The AI-native venture studio has closed the round with backing from Educapital, Daphni, Ring Capital, Centre Court Capital, Athletico Ventures and Better Angle, along with founders of well-known consumer, health and gaming products. Founded in late 2024 by Stanislas Marchand, Jean-Gabriel Boinot-Tramoni and Sammy Teillet, the studio focuses on wellness applications that fit naturally into daily routines. Rocapine’s model contrasts with traditional social and mobile apps that often optimise for time-on-screen, positioning the company as part of a wider backlash against attention-extractive design and screen addiction.
From “hook” to “hold”: a different philosophy of engagement
Rocapine describes its approach as building products that “hold instead of hook”, a clear statement that it wants relationships, not compulsions. In practice, that means designing habit-forming apps that reward consistent, healthy behaviours instead of endless scrolling. According to DataReportal 2025, the average person spends 5 hours and 16 minutes per day on a smartphone, which CEO Stanislas Marchand argues has helped turn technology “addictive, extractive and exhausting.” Rocapine’s answer is to optimise for “time well spent” rather than raw engagement metrics, an idea that sits at the heart of modern ethical app design. Their apps aim to slot into morning routines, commutes or wind-down periods as short sessions with clear benefits, particularly in areas like cycle tracking, sobriety support and daily habits, signalling a move toward mental health technology that measures success in outcomes rather than minutes captured.
AI-native testing engine and multi-app portfolio strategy
Instead of betting on a single blockbuster product, Rocapine is building a broad portfolio of wellness apps, using an AI-native testing engine to explore hundreds of ideas each year. The studio works with independent developers, applies a high-velocity publisher model borrowed from mobile gaming, and rapidly scales any concept that shows strong product–market fit. This approach has already produced early hits such as Harmony for women’s wellbeing and cycle tracking, That Girl for building better daily habits, and Unchaind for addressing compulsive behaviours. Rocapine reports that one app reached EUR 863.6k (USD 1 million, approx. RM4.6 million) in ARR only 16 days after launch, and the portfolio has generated EUR 5.1 million (USD 6 million, approx. RM27.6 million) in ARR over nine months. By spreading risk across multiple wellness products, the studio aims to reach at least 40 million people within five years.
Investor interest signals a shift in wellness app funding
The scale and profile of Rocapine’s Series A investment highlight a shift in wellness app funding toward mental health technology that respects attention rather than exploits it. Educapital’s investment director Alexandre Glaser calls Rocapine “one of the most compelling stories” in consumer tech, pointing to fast execution, multiple early hits and meaningful revenue as proof that ethical app design can be commercially attractive. Backers include founders of health insurer Alan, focus app Opal, social platform Yubo, and gaming and creator businesses like Madbox and The Sandbox, suggesting cross-industry belief that the mobile gaming growth playbook can be flipped for wellbeing. With plans to scale its testing engine to 400 apps this year and strengthen its AI, data and marketing infrastructure, Rocapine is positioning itself as a leading studio for next-generation habit-forming apps that hold users for the right reasons.
