Die Inuka Geschichte
How we brought a revolutionary way to make mental health accessible - to the workplace, and the world.
Inuka means ‘arise’ in Kigali, and that is exactly how we began — after a meeting between co-founders Robin van Dalen and globally recognized psychiatrist Prof Dr. Chibanda.


Once upon a time in Canada, back in June 2015, Robin van Dalen met Dr. Dixon Chibanda. Dr. Chibanda shared a beautiful story about how he realized that as one of 13 psychiatrists for 16 million people in his home country of Zimbabwe, something had to change. But how? His radically different solution was to train community members – and in particular grandmothers – on problem-solving therapy to make mental health more accessible.
1 in 5 people every year suffer from depression, burnout and anxiety – and the majority don’t seek help.

Fast forward another year and a half, and Dixon has become a world-renowned psychiatrist with his own viral TED-talk and spends much of his time still with the Friendship Bench, an organization training coaches across Africa that serves 100.000 people each year with problems ranging from depression, trauma, to stress.
With our Inuka digital coaching innovation, we make affordable, high-quality, human support (with measurable results!) accessible for all layers of society.