Today, with more than 700 audio modules focused on stress relief, sleep, and personal growth, the app supports users across multiple languages and countries - helping people strengthen their mental wellbeing in everyday life.

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The Experience of Expanding Horizons

In early 2025, HypnoBox joined the German Accelerator U.S. Market Access Program, setting its sights on understanding and entering the U.S. market. The program became a structured deep dive into market validation, B2B sales strategy, and product localization for a new audience.

The team worked with mentors to develop detailed customer profiles, studied the B2B buyer journey, and conducted competitor interviews to understand how U.S. companies approach mental-health-related products. As the co-founder and CTO, Sebastian Meckelmann, recalls “our main target was to enter the B2B market in the UnitedStates. Together with our lead mentor, we created a strong approach and defined how the features should turn out.” HypnoBox gained clarity on positioning, messaging, and potential distribution channels - lessons that would soon prove useful much closer to home.

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Expect the Unexpected

Although the program’s primary goal was to enable a U.S. expansion, it unexpectedly created opportunities in Germany. The created content, as well as awareness and credibility that came from the accelerator helped HypnoBox attract attention from partners in Germany. This visibility led to a major collaboration with Urban Sports Club (WellHub), which integrated HypnoBox into its employee-well-being catalog - giving access to employees across more than 7,000 companies.

"We were expanding our App Catalog with solutions that support truly holistic wellbeing, and HypnoBox immediately stood out,” said Jenna Simons, Head of Global Brand Partnerships at Urban Sports Club.

Sebastian, Co-Founder and Head of Business Development at HypnoBox, recalls the moment the partnership took shape: ” They approached us, we sent them the information we had created during the program,” said Sebastian. “It was a really short negotiation and we were able to convince them to our product really fast because of the great mentoring and guidance”.

The partnership brought HypnoBox into UrbanSports Club’s corporate benefits offering, connecting it to employees at over 7,000 companies. Soon after, the startup partnered with Benefits.me adding another 3,300 companies and more than 1,000,000 employees to its reach.

These partnerships complemented HypnoBox’s business, extending access to people who might discover the app through their workplace.

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Global Mindset, Community Insights

For a bootstrapped startup like HypnoBox, international growth has required precision.  During the program, the team realized their original funding approach was no longer viable. “A wrong approach could have serious consequences.,” Sebastian admitted. “We needed to identify risks as well as possible. German Accelerator helped us reduce that risk and make better decisions about marketing and localization.”

Another key insight came from interacting with other founders in the program. Sebastian described how spending time together abroad created a sense of community and open exchange: a rare opportunity for founders to learn from each other’s experiences.

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Beyond the App: A Philosophy of Calm

HypnoBox’s growth continues to align with its core mission: empowering people to improve their mental well-being and life. Founder and CEO Bernhard Tewes has just released a new book published by Rowohlt, exploring the concept of Glimmer - described as the positive counterpart to a “trigger,” moments that evoke calm and connection (find out more here: https://glimmer.hypnobox.de).

The experience in the program also shaped how the team approaches future markets. English localization had already doubled HypnoBox reach - with around half of its revenue coming from outside Germany. Next year, the company plans to join a German Accelerator program in India to further explore opportunities in this huge market.

For HypnoBox, the company’s expansion - from individual users to partnerships, around the globe - is not just about scaling an app. It’s about amplifying a mindset: that inner freedom, strength and ease is not a luxury, but a skill that can be learned, shared, and spread. Visit https://bonus.hypnobox.com and use the code “start2grow” for a 2 week free trial.

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Key Takeaways for Founders

• Growth doesn’t always follow the expected path.
  A U.S. expansion effort led to unexpected traction in Germany.
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• Credibility compounds.
  Structured programs like the German Accelerator can open doors beyond their original scope.
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• Reducing Risk Through Guidance.
  Every strategic decision matters when resources are limited. A guided program and mentoring can help refine focus and reduce risk while     maintaining independence
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• Localization pays off.
  Early translation and cultural adaptation expansion doubled HypnoBox’s reach and turned it into a major revenue source, as well as laid the foundation for future markets.

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