In a world of social media, where it seems that everyone has to prove they are more successful than anyone else, Lars 搁酶苍苍颈苍驳 goes against the grain.
搁酶苍苍颈苍驳 describes himself as an “ordinary person” despite聽completing 12 Ironman triathlons and having proven his entrepreneurial expertise across several countries.
The former general manager at RingCentral, Helpshift and Blue Cedar is now scaling his startup Ailuna, which he founded after 25 years of doing that exact thing – scaling US tech startups across the UK and the rest of Europe.
Ailuna, a sustainability-focused, gamified behavioural change platform, is spearheaded by 搁酶苍苍颈苍驳 and his wife Helene, who has an extensive background in working in sustainability.
Inspired by Couch to 5K and Duolingo
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 activists, just ordinary people wanting to do our part,鈥� he told 老九品茶Cloud.
鈥淏ut when we looked for an app or platform to help us – and businesses – drive real behaviour change in sustainability, nothing quite fit. So, we built Ailuna.鈥�
The platform is designed to help businesses, employees, consumers, students, and citizens take action, one step at a time.聽
It is built on behavioural science and inspired by frameworks like James Clear鈥檚 Atomic Habits, as well as successful learning and development app models like Couch to 5K and Duolingo.聽
搁酶苍苍颈苍驳 continued: 鈥淲hile we started with sustainability and ESG, the platform can drive any kind of behaviour change. This year, we expanded into cybersecurity behaviour change and fraud prevention, partnering with We Fight Fraud, arguably one of the UK鈥檚 most creative fraud prevention consultancies.
鈥淎t its core, Ailuna solves a fundamental problem: learning new things and building habits is hard, even when people know it鈥檚 the right thing to do.聽
鈥淢any companies invest heavily in information campaigns, only to find that awareness doesn鈥檛 always lead to action.聽
鈥淥ur approach flips that, we say that action drives belief. By encouraging people to try small, achievable changes, they experience success firsthand, which makes them more likely to take on bigger, long-term changes.聽
鈥淭hat鈥檚 how we help businesses and individuals make the world a better, cleaner, and safer place – one habit at a time.鈥�
Ironman
The name of the Oxfordshire-based business was born out of its CEO鈥檚 interest in Hawaii.聽
Ailuna means 鈥渦p there, pointing at the moon鈥� in Hawaiian – in other words, aiming high.
He said: 鈥淢y personal fascination with Hawaii stems from the Ironman Triathlon World Championships, held there annually.聽
鈥淨ualifying has been a long-term goal of mine, though I haven鈥檛 quite made the cut yet. However, I have completed 12 Ironman-distance triathlons, the 250km Marathon des Sables in the Moroccan desert, and numerous other endurance events across running, cycling, and cross-country skiing.鈥�
Behind Ailuna鈥檚 success
Ailuna operates with a team of nearly 20 people, with many working on a freelance or consulting basis.聽
Now with users in over 50 countries, the firm is looking to continue to expand its platform and has already raised 拢1.6m to date.
It has also struck up many successful partnerships since its launch in 2019, including a notable one with Asahi Breweries, where the company helped employees adopt more sustainable habits through a year-long program.聽
The results were impressive: 89% of participants adopted more sustainable habits, and 79% said they planned to maintain those changes beyond the initiative.聽
鈥淎 big driver has been making Ailuna鈥檚 consumer app freely available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. That鈥檚 helped spread the word and grow our community organically,鈥� explained 搁酶苍苍颈苍驳.
鈥淔orging and leveraging strong business and sustainability partnerships has also been key.聽
鈥淲e鈥檝e worked with organisations like The Carbon Literacy Project, Products of Change, and the CBI, which has helped strengthen our credibility in these circles.
鈥淲e鈥檙e continuing our expansion of Ailuna鈥檚 platform beyond sustainability into cybersecurity behaviour change and fraud prevention, as well as responsible AI literacy and engagement.
鈥淲e鈥檙e also continuing looking at API integrations that allow Ailuna to seamlessly embed into existing apps and websites. And with AI, we鈥檙e looking to enhance personalisation, content creation, and localisation – making the platform even more engaging and relevant for users.聽
鈥淲e鈥檙e also in the market for further fundraising.鈥�
The Isle of Man Innovation Challenge
Ailuna participated in the Isle of Man Innovation Challenge, a competition seeking transformative solutions in FinTech, CleanTech, and data & AI, where the firm reached the final.
搁酶苍苍颈苍驳, who is also聽currently involved in a bluefin tuna tagging project to help protect marine life in Scandinavian waters, said that the challenge has played a pivotal role in refining its business model and expanding its reach.聽
鈥淭he challenge not only validated our expansion into new areas but also helped us refine our model and further engage investors,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t reinforced our focus on Responsible AI and cybersecurity behaviour change, all while opening up new opportunities for collaboration.鈥�
Since the challenge, Ailuna has strengthened its proposition, further developed its platform, and is in discussions for several potential projects on the Isle of Man, with new funding securing additional momentum.
Don鈥檛 be afraid to pivot
For 搁酶苍苍颈苍驳, the key to scaling Ailuna has been staying adaptable and listening to customer needs.聽
He highlighted the importance of building a flexible team structure, avoiding spreading themselves too thin and to always being open to change.
鈥淒on鈥檛 be afraid to pivot when necessary,鈥� he said.聽
鈥淲e started with one idea and have evolved into something much bigger. The key is to remain agile, listen to feedback, and constantly iterate.鈥�