Overcoming social anxiety is not easy... That's why we are making this app
👋 Hey! I’m Ritch, one of the co-founders of Hatchr, a gamified app designed to help people overcome social anxiety through real-world exposure challenges.
Social anxiety has been a part of my story too.
I used to be incredibly shy, avoiding eye contact, scared to take up space in public… you know the drill. But something unexpected helped me break through: I started street performing as a breakdancer. That meant dancing in front of strangers every day. It was terrifying at first, but I kept showing up.
Eventually, something shifted. The fear didn’t disappear, but I stopped letting it control me. And that changed everything. People even started seeing me as an “extrovert.”
Looking back, I realized I had stumbled into exposure therapy without even knowing it. The most effective, science-backed way to overcome social anxiety… disguised as breakdancing on a sidewalk 😅
So we built Hatchr to bring that same power to anyone who needs it (don’t worry, no dancing required 😂).
It’s an app:
🧠 Based on exposure therapy — the #1 method for social anxiety
🎮 With gamified levels and streaks to track your progress
🤝 And a community of people all leveling up, together
I wish I had something like this when I was younger. So now we’re building it for anyone who feels stuck, held back, or alone in their social anxiety.
If that’s you — or someone you care about — we’d love for you to try it out. Let us know what you think. 🙏
(That photo? That’s me, J, and Tibs — taken about 10 years ago)
The link to the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hatchr-social-anxiety-coach/id6744154901
We would love to hear your thoughts on it !
Hey Ritch, its very impressive you guys are bboys but also creators of Hatchr. I'm a UX/product designer working on a social anxiety app, also drawing from my own experience growing up shy, and I'd love to include Hatchr in a competitive analysis for my portfolio case study, you're one of the few people I've found building in this exact space. Would you be open to sharing access so I can properly walk through it? Happy to share what I'm building too, if you're curious. Thanks for putting this out there!
Social anxiety is one of those challenges that can quietly affect work, relationships, and personal growth, so it's encouraging to see founders building solutions in this space.
Technology can make support more accessible, especially for people who may find it difficult to take the first step. At the same time, I think the most effective tools are the ones that help users gradually build confidence through consistent practice rather than offering quick fixes.
I'm curious how you're approaching long-term engagement and measuring meaningful progress for users. Wishing you success with the project.