Best Wellness Debuts at SXSW This Year

People often imagine tech, politics and entertainment as the main players of South By Southwest, but this native Austin conference is diving into the health and wellness scene, too.

The best SXSW health initiatives premiering this 2023 showed us some technology, pharmaceuticals, research, organic skincare and panels galore. Here are our favorites from the health, wellness and holistic space that came to Austin this year for SXSW. 

INVI MindHealth

Credit to INVI MindHealth

INVI MindHealth tested and developed ways to help U.S. Navy SEALs and their mental health, with the goal of preventing suicides. Developed by former SEAL and co-founder of the nonprofit SEAL Future Foundation, Jonathan Wilson, INVI launches this summer. For the rest of us non-Navy SEALs, this amazing app addresses mental health issues and actually offers help and suggestions, holding you accountable with “swim buddies” unlike a lot of its competitors. 

The app functions similarly to a stoplight in a “red, yellow, green” fashion and uses technology to track your sleep and breathing. You can use your Apple Watches and Oura Rings, or work with the app’s partnering technology to track said things. This app works by tracking your health by asking if you’re OK after three days of “red,” or whatever your personalized baseline may be, offering check-ins with “swim buddies,” and providing a multitude of other mental health options. Wilson spoke at a panel discussing his app, the inspiration behind it and how he’s “tired of losing brothers and sisters in the forces and, otherwise, to suicide.” He aims to use this app to track actual data and make a real change.

KORA Organics

Credit to KORA Organics

KORA Organics founder Miranda Kerr’s announced that she’s releasing the world’s first organic retinol alternative serum that’s made of plant stem cells. This serum firms and hydrates the skin, working day and night to target aging and improve hydration. It uses certified organic ingredients such as bakuchiol, alfalfa extract, acai stem cell extract, rosehip oil, noni extract and more. As a mother, Kerr and her team are focused on ensuring women don’t put chemicals in their bodies as each person has meaning. She says that when they tested the product on other women who used authentic retinol before using their product, 78% preferred their product to the actual chemical.

Nimbus Healthcare

Nimbus Healthcare was developed by Jobby John, the owner of Austin-based Lake Hills Pharmacy and a compound pharmacist. Nimbus is a one-of-a-kind personalized medicine telehealth platform. During this year’s SXSW, Nimbus promoted its women’s line with its “at-home women’s hormone test,” which helps identify underlying causes for women who may be experiencing hot flashes, anxiety, night sweats, mood swings, low libido, weight gain, hair loss and more. 

Credit to Nimbus Healthcare

Hormones have been Jobby’s specialty for the past 10 years, with the goal of Nimbus being to listen to the issues of women that doctors may shrub off or call “normal” or just perimenopausal or menopausal. But this doesn’t mean you have to experience these symptoms on a regular period, and having a custom treatment plan can provide just what your body needs to thrive. The test doesn’t just check your hormone levels, but it also checks your thyroid and finds the underlying causes of what may be giving you problems. Nimbus also has a men’s hormone kit and many other amazing products. 

ZOZOFIT

Credit to ZOZOSUIT

The ZOZOSUIT from ZOZOFIT has come from Japan to California and is now here in Austin! This cutting-edge technology company brings us the suit that tracks your body fat the most accurately at home and is skin-tight to fit your exact measurements. Affordable and fun to sport, the suit connects to an app that helps the user track their goals to see firsthand at home their up-to-date measurements. 

You can compete with friends and family and work on your own “problem” or target areas. And seeing the exact changes happen is a dream come true for fitness gurus or anybody looking to “get fit” and stay fit or just build generally more muscle mass. Before and after selfies are things of the past; having a 3D model scan of yourself is the new thing, thanks to ZOZOFIT and the ZOZOSUIT.

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Every year, SXSW introduces us Austinites to amazing new things before the rest of the world gets their hands on it, and this year, we were lucky enough to be exploring healthy minds, bodies, hormones and skin! What more could we ask for? We’ve got to keep our eyes on these brands in the coming year — they might be revolutionary. 

About the Author

Katerina Cotroneo is an author and professional photographer who uses her marketing background and talent behind the camera and has been published in AFM, Authentic Texas, Waterways Magazine, Tribeza and more. Cotroneo captures idiosyncratic stories through her lens and portrays diverse perspectives in her writing.