Berkeley SkyDeck startup Soula has completed its first cohort of corporate pilots across 8 companies, grown its inDrive pilot into a year-long programme for 1,000+ female employees, and is now recruiting employers for a second cohort of research pilots.

October 5, 2026 — Soula, a Berkeley SkyDeck company building the first wellbeing ecosystem designed for working women, today launched a new version of its platform. It combines a female-first AI companion grounded in women's neuroscience and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with a facilitated women's community and expert-led sessions.

The launch follows a first cohort of successful B2B pilots. Soula is now actively seeking employers to join its second cohort: structured research pilots that measure the impact of women-centered wellbeing support on stress, burnout, productivity, and retention.

Proven in Corporate Pilots

Soula's first pilot cohort ran across 8 companies, with 60–80% of participants completing the programme. Typical corporate wellbeing programmes see 3–5% completion.

At inDrive (3,000+ employees), the pilot grew into a year-long programme for more than 1,000 female employees:

Result

inDrive pilot

Reported reduced stress and daily anxiety

88% of participants

NPS growth over the pilot period

+8.97

Women in the year-long programme

1,000+

"Soula didn't just hand us a platform. They became a true partner and built a white-glove mental support programme for the women on our team," said Aytalina Nikolaeva, Director of Operations Department, inDrive.

Second Cohort: Research Pilots Now Open to Employers

Soula is actively recruiting employers for its second cohort, the Women Wellbeing at Work study. It is a structured 6-week research pilot, delivered to a selected cohort of female employees and measured before and after with internationally validated instruments:

  • Stress and emotion regulation: WHO-5, PSS-4, ERQ
  • Burnout and presenteeism: BAT-4, WPAI-GH
  • Retention and support: TIS-6, Perceived Organisational Support

Each partner receives an anonymised, GDPR-compliant report with a dashboard and recommendations. Employers never see individual responses. After the second cohort, Soula will publish a cross-company research report, with participating employers credited as Research Partners.

The research is led by PhD researchers with backgrounds at Google DeepMind and in psychotherapy, and is supported by the Research and Innovation Foundation.

Employers interested in joining can apply at soula.care/partners.

The Product: Female-First AI Grounded in Neuroscience and CBT

Women report burnout at far higher rates than men, yet most workplace wellbeing programmes were not designed around how women experience stress. Hormonal shifts across the menstrual cycle and life stages affect mood, focus, and stress response, and women often carry a heavier mental load at home and at work.

The new Soula is built around that reality:

  • Female-first AI companion that connects daily check-ins with cycle phase and context, and uses CBT techniques to help women recognize and reframe stress patterns.
  • Long-term memory that learns what has helped each woman, so support becomes more personal over time.
  • Personalized pathways for anxiety and burnout, reviewed by Soula's PhD research team.
  • Facilitated women's community for moderated peer support.
  • Expert-led live sessions on stress regulation, recovery, boundaries, and resilience.

The consumer app has 250,000+ downloads, 3,000+ paying users, a 4.8 store rating, and a 12-minute average session length.

Founder Quote

"Wellbeing is not a perk. It is the foundation of focus, loyalty, and leadership," said Natallia Miranchuk, Founder and CEO of Soula. "Our first pilots showed that when support is designed around how women actually experience stress, women use it and it works. With our second research cohort, we want to give employers evidence, not assumptions, about what truly helps the women on their teams."

About Soula

Soula is the first wellbeing ecosystem built for working women: a female-first AI companion grounded in women's neuroscience and CBT, a facilitated women's community, and expert-led sessions. Soula works with employers to reduce burnout, absenteeism, and turnover among female employees.

Soula is backed by the Research and Innovation Foundation, Berkeley SkyDeck, Natalia Vodianova (UN Goodwill Ambassador), Microsoft for Startups, and Google. Its team includes a former VP of Product at Flo, PhD researchers with Google DeepMind backgrounds, and a psychotherapist. Founder Natallia Miranchuk has spent 20+ years in women's health, including programmes with UNFPA and WHO.

Soula has been featured in Inc. and Fast Company.

Learn more at soula.care. Employers: soula.care/partners.

Media and partnership contact Natallia Miranchuk, Founder & CEO n.miranchuk@soula.care