NFL’s Richard Sherman Teams Up With HealthTech Company Nurosene To Shed Light On Mental And Brain Health

HealthTech company Nurosene, is on a mission to bring visibility to mental wellness using a brain-first approach. The company, which is focused on implementing healthy habits designed to align the mind, body and brain for daily mental wellness and overall brain health, announced it has teamed up with five-time NFL Pro Bowler Richard Sherman to support the company’s newly launched Nuro App. In addition, Sherman will serve as an ambassador for Nurosene’s approach to supporting brain health and continue on his journey of advocating for those struggling with mental health. 

Founded last year in May 2020 by brain researcher and functional neurologist Daniel Gallucci, Nurosene set out to improve mental wellness and brain health for all, just as people focus on their own nutrition or their physical health. Richard Sherman’s investment in Nurosene comes at a pivotal time when the light has only begun to be cast on the stigmas around mental health and wellness, and increasingly so due to the struggles during the pandemic. 

Sherman’s personal experience made it important for him to get involved with the Canadian-based company where he eventually become an ambassador. “I think this pandemic has really revealed a lot to a lot of people and a lot of the world during these difficult days,” Sherman stated. “When you’re isolated, you are really forced to be in your own thoughts and in your own head,” he added. Gallucci, a former professional soccer player, exercise scientist and sports physiologist, also  shared with Forbes his deeper interest in how we truly understand the brain. When it comes to brain health, Gallucci believes the Nuro App will help to “position their brain health as the driver of their performance moving forward.” 

“More than ever, athletes realize that they’re being pushed beyond their performance capacity physically and emotionally, at an intensity and a frequency that’s never been seen before, and without the understanding of what that means not only for them contextually right at that moment for their own performance and behavior, but also their long term performance and behaviors, Gallucci adds.” 

Sherman, who has long been an advocate for mental health in sports and in the black community, feels that now is an important time to bring these issues to light and normalize them. “Mental health is one of those things, both culturally in the black community, but also culturally, it’s kind of like the jockism, to just be tougher, and be stronger, and just get past it and don’t think about it,” he shared.  In this “get over it” type culture Sherman shares that it eventually  “compounds on itself.” 

As an athlete sometimes it means “letting it be known that we’re all human,” Sherman says. “I think when you start to peel back the layers and really reveal yourself to people, it leads people to find help for themselves and liberates people that man, they’re not alone in that thought process.” 

“Another reason I partnered with Nurosene is that it really shows people that it’s okay to have that conversation,” he adds. With Nurosene’s “brain-based approach” there is potential to open up more possibilities to help more people across the globe, but also more athletes, like Noami Osaka, who recently stepped away from her professional career in tennis to take time for her mental well-being, and get the tools they need to improve their overall brain health.  

According to Gallucci, “It’s the brain that drives your behavior, whether it’s how fast your eyes move, whether it’s how you get to sleep at night, these are constructs of the fundamental workings of your brain. And by putting those things at the beginning of the conversation, it increases the possibility of you being successful moving forward.” 

Throughout Sherman’s NFL career, he has learned many lessons, but from a mental health perspective, he says one of the one of the ‘best and worst things’ that he has learned in sports is to try not to dwell on the past. “You can’t dwell on the past, because you know, you learn from it really quickly, and you move forward with the experience that you have, and try to be better from it. And I think sometimes that forces me and forces humans to suppress things and just go past them in life.” 

According to Sherman, his involvement with Nurosene and its Nuro App was the perfect symbiosis of looking to really get into this space because of the pandemic, “You just really want to acknowledge and address the issue. I think it’s going to be a fantastic tool that’s gonna help a lot of people. I think it can have a positive impact on all age groups, because I think as kids, you’re conditioned to think a certain way about mental health,” he added. “For kids, it really just shows that they’re not alone, and I think some kids are so isolated, and alone, get in their own head and feel like there’s no way out, and sometimes that leads to a terrible road, and a terrible future. And I think this gives them an out, this gives them hope.”

As of today, the company officially announced its IPO listing on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE) under the ticker MEND for a total raise of $9.2M CAD, which was overscribed from the originally expected $5-8M CAD. “We’re really excited to have Richard on board, as his passion for the community and support for those struggling, is really complementary to what we do,” said Ranj Bath, CEO of Nurosene. Bath shared that they are “building a generation of healthier brains.” To help focus beyond the nutritional side or physical training, Bath says the company has “built an ecosystem of tools inside an app, to help train and coach your brain on a daily basis, by incorporating basic fundamental things that increase blood flow to the brain.” 

The company also recently released its Nuro App, which is available for free on the Apple App store among others. The programs, tools and exercises are focused around the four pillars of movement, brain, nutrition and recovery. According to Bath, “We’ve digitized the entire clinical experience based around doing various kinds of brain training exercises often reserved for those with the means in private clinics. We’re democratizing healthcare and want to make such critical tools available to everyone. Once an activity is complete, the Nurosene app aims to then analyze the way that the user interacts with the activities and assess potential future healthcare conditions or personalize the users program, to ensure they are on a path to rectify potential issues down the line,” Bath adds. 

“I think it’s really cool how [mental health] has come to the forefront and is really being addressed in a positive way instead of being looked at as taboo or or being shunned. And I’m really excited to be a part of a positive movement that will hopefully change our lives for the better,” Sherman shares.