Darify

Darify offers vulnerable young people a listening ear in a safe online environment

Anonymous, taboo-breaking, approachable and preventive. Darify wants to be the first social medium that helps young people by offering guidance early on and by supporting them in a way that suits them. In doing so, Darify is committed to reducing waiting times for young people to get help.   

This is necessary too. In Twente, 1 in 3 adolescents occasionally think about suicide. They have eating disorders, divorced parents, feel lonely or suffer from depression. With such complaints, the threshold to seek help is high. Founder Danny Hoendervangers knows all about it. When he experienced senseless violence at the age of 23, it resulted in extreme, chronic pain symptoms. Those symptoms would persist for 16 years before he was diagnosed. Throughout that time, Danny did not want to be known and silently struggled with the challenges the pain threw at him within all areas of life. He is now doing well again. His own story also gave him a clear mission: to help young people who - like him at the time - could use a listening ear and help if needed. Gradually, that mission is taking shape and by the end of 2024, his app Darify is about to be launched.

Developed for and by young people

‘Depression, loneliness, addiction, parents getting divorced or domestic violence, these are no stories you easily turn to your comrades or the mentor at school with,’ Danny knows from his many conversations with young people. ‘A first step towards help is easier if it can be done anonymously. That makes it more approachable. There are more needs like this that young people have who have daily struggles with life. They are looking to find answers to their questions. Or want to share their interests with someone. That is why we developed Darify in collaboration with young people. The University of Twente, the GGD, behavioural scientists, remedial pedagogues, (helping) professionals and several IT companies, among others, have also contributed to where Darify is today.’ 

An intensive research and validation process has resulted in six pillars that form the foundation of Darify:

• Young people can anonymously ask questions and seek help (target audience 13-27 years).

• Young people keep control of their own challenge and data.

• Darify provides a confidential online environment where privacy is guaranteed.

• Darify enables peer-2-peer contact to exchange experiences and interests.

• Role models and positive influencers can be accessed through the platform.

• The app provides access to national initiatives, but also to more local initiatives to enable the link between online and offline if the adolescent wants it. 

Security around sensitive information

‘Darify's success is not based on assumptions,’ Danny explains. ‘We built several prototypes, tested them with the target audience on social media and the conversion rate with our latest prototype was high: over 9%. This was well above expectations. This means we are on the right track. Right now, we are in the process of moving the platform from Google Cloud Platform to Fundaments' sovereign Cloud. This is because all the data is currently on a server in Ireland, but that does not provide sufficient assurance regarding the online safety, privacy and personal data of young people.

Without that guarantee, we cannot and will not live. I got into a conversation about this with Raoul Werger, chief executive officer at Fundaments. He told me that their server space is on Dutch soil, thereby meeting our third pillar: a safe online environment for young people. He then offered to make server space available pro bono. I am sincerely grateful to Raoul for this opportunity offered and for all the valuable conversations and advice, both business and personal. It says a lot to me about him as a person that he wants to contribute in this way. In addition, I also express my gratitude to all the other people from the Fundaments team. They are always helpful and accessible. So I look forward to continued collaboration with great confidence. By working with Fundaments, we are ready for the future with Darify.’

Collaborative partners and investors pay attention

Such support brings the launch of Darify another step closer. And that's rather today than tomorrow, as society seems to be clamouring for it. ‘We are in talks with several educational institutions in the region,’ Danny explains, ’so that students can have access to the platform. After all, within education, they also perceive the need for a tool like Darify. We are enormously pleased that they are thinking along and that their interest has been sparked.’ The police have also shown interest in the platform. ‘By collaborating with influencers with social commitment, we have an online reach of over 750,000 young people in the Netherlands prior to launch. Therefore, now is the time to connect the dots. So whoever reads this and thinks: I would love to contribute to this, I warmly invite them to contact me. We are looking for cooperation partners and investors, who have an affinity with youth welfare, to help take the platform to the next stage. The same applies to universities, colleges, MBO and municipalities as far as we are concerned: Together, we make change possible for young people.’

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Contact details Darify

Danny Hoendervangers

Tel: +31 682 734 934

Mail: danny@darify.io

P.S. More information is available on request