MINDFUL CODE LTD

What MINDFUL CODE LTD does

Mindful Code Ltd is a Brighton, UK-based independent software studio that designs and builds bespoke digital tools for universities, research projects, charities, and cultural institutions. Founded in 2019 and operating as a two-person company, it positions itself explicitly as a focused studio rather than a full-service agency, concentrating on projects where domain understanding and long-term maintainability matter. The studio is co-founded by James Alvarez (design and development, PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Sussex, BPS/ATSiP award winner) and James Hughes (Research Software Engineer at UCL's Centre for Advanced Research Computing, PhD in Psychology). The business serves clients including the University of Sussex, UCL, UCLH, Radio Times, NIHR ARC Kent Surrey Sussex, the Landecker Digital Memory Lab, the University of Glasgow, and the UCL PD-Care Research Group across higher education, healthcare, heritage, and media research verticals.

The studio's product portfolio comprises 14 documented projects, including research platforms (The Perception Census, Syntoolkit, NextBrain), healthcare applications (INFORMus ICU dashboard, Live Well with Parkinson's toolkit, Parenting with Anxiety), accessibility tools (Soundsight, Sussex Campus Map), heritage and archival systems (Academalytics, Landecker Digital Memory Database, Legacies of British Slavery), and educational/media research tools (Whole School and College Approach Toolkit, Screen Test, Colourspot). Technical implementation spans Laravel, Vue.js, React, Next.js, React Native, Unity3D, Swift/iOS, PHP, JavaScript, TypeScript, with PostgreSQL, MySQL, and integrations into institutional systems such as the EMAP electronic medical records platform at UCLH. Notable engineering characteristics include client-side-only architectures (NextBrain's in-browser NumPy decompression, Sussex Campus Map's zero-backend design), embedded integrations with live clinical data, and privacy-first implementations (Academalytics' sub-2KB no-cookie tracking). Outputs have reached peer-reviewed publication venues including Nature (NextBrain) and Behavior Research Methods (Colourspot), and have won the CR Annual Awards 2024 in Creative Effectiveness.

Mindful Code operates a sales-led, project-based revenue model, with clients reaching the studio via direct website contact and email. The studio quotes fixed prices scoped to grant budgets, generating revenue through one-time project fees for custom software development rather than recurring licenses or subscriptions. There is no disclosed pricing, no public marketing activity, and no external funding; the studio is bootstrapped and founder-owned. Projects are typically funded through research grants, and pricing is structured to fit those constraints, which acts as both a sales qualification filter and a ceiling on average project value relative to commercial comparables.

Name

MINDFUL CODE LTD

Legal name

Mindful Code Ltd.

Website

https://mindfulcode.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Mindful Code Ltd is a two-person Brighton-based studio that designs and builds bespoke digital software tools for UK universities, research projects, charities, and cultural institutions, quoting fixed prices within grant budgets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Research and Academic Software Development

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Graphic Design Services (541430)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

STEM Teacher Tools, Curriculum & Lesson Planning Platforms (EDAFANAK), Teacher-Led Digital Lesson Packages & Instructional Resources (EDAFACAL)

Keywords

• Bespoke software development
• Academic research software
• Digital heritage archives
• Healthcare research tools
• Cultural institution software

Headquarters

HQ city

Brighton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Bespoke Software Development: Project-based bespoke digital tool development for universities, research projects, charities, and cultural institutions. Quotes fixed prices and works within grant budgets. Revenue is generated through one-time project fees for custom software development.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Mindful Code designs and builds bespoke digital software tools for universities, research projects, charities, and cultural institutions. Projects are delivered as fixed-price contracts and include research platforms, ICU dashboards, brain atlases, mobile apps, accessibility tools, heritage archives, and analytics platforms, typically funded through research grants.

Product overview

Mindful Code Ltd is a small, independent software studio that builds bespoke digital tools rather than offering a unified product platform. Their portfolio consists of distinct, project-specific products developed for universities, research projects, charities, cultural institutions, and healthcare organisations. The product portfolio includes research platforms (The Perception Census, Syntoolkit, NextBrain), healthcare applications (INFORMus ICU dashboard, Live Well with Parkinson's toolkit, Parenting with Anxiety), accessibility tools (Soundsight, Sussex Campus Map), data analytics and archival systems (Academalytics, Landecker Digital Memory Database, Legacies of British Slavery), educational tools (Whole School and College Approach Toolkit), and media research applications (Screen Test, Colourspot). Each product is built as a standalone solution tailored to specific client needs rather than as modules within a single platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Landecker Digital Memory Database A searchable archive of digital memory projects from Holocaust memorial organisations worldwide, with network visualisations and natural language search. Built as a Laravel application with relational database architecture covering digital projects, assets, organisations, individuals, and keywords, with Meilisearch full-text search, globe view, force-directed network graphs, chord diagrams, video segmentation and annotation, and admin content management.
• Screen Test Mobile App React Native cross-platform mobile app (iOS and Android) using Expo and Supabase, built for Radio Times and the University of Sussex to recruit TV viewers and collect structured viewing data via push-notification based logging, personalised recommendations, and survey integration, with Radio Times branding throughout.
• Live Well with Parkinson's Digital self-management toolkit for people with Parkinson's, developed with UCL PD-Care Research Group and tested through a national clinical trial where 82% of participants reported frequent usage and 87% found it helpful for managing symptoms.
• INFORMus ICU Dashboard Real-time React-based ICU dashboard for University College London Hospitals, providing clinical staff at-a-glance visibility of every patient across the ward. Features interactive SVG floor plan mapping beds to physical positions, colour-coded status indicators, and 24-hour rolling history for trend analysis, integrated with the EMAP electronic medical records system to pull patient demographics, vital signs, oxygen levels, and pain scores.
• The Perception Census Award-winning online test platform studying perceptual differences across devices, with 33,780 participants from 133 countries, making it the largest study of perceptual differences of its kind. Awarded the CR Annual Awards 2024 for Creative Effectiveness.
• NextBrain Interactive Viewer Pure client-side React and TypeScript application for exploring high-resolution brain atlases, handling compressed NumPy array decompression and parsing entirely in-browser using JSZip and npyjs to enable serverless atlas exploration with synchronised MRI and histology slice views. Built as part of a 10-year research effort funded by the European Research Council and published in Nature.
• Whole School and College Approach Toolkit Self-assessment platform for schools to measure their approach to mental health and track progress over time, developed for NIHR ARC Kent Surrey Sussex as a multi-panel Laravel application for mental health research across UK schools.
• Academalytics Privacy-first web analytics platform restricted to verified .ac.uk email addresses, with sub-2KB tracking script, no cookies or persistent identifiers, Do Not Track header support, no third-party data sharing, real-time visitor stats, and CSV export. Free to use for UK academic institutions.
• Legacies of British Slavery Database Modernisation Modernisation of the UCL Legacies of British Slavery database documenting British slave-ownership, serving millions of visitors annually. Work included applying security fixes and ORM migration to a 12-year-old codebase to make the platform secure and maintainable.
• Sussex Campus Map Fully client-side interactive campus map with no API keys or backend dependencies, offering an illustrated campus view, a custom-styled vector tile map, and a satellite layer. Includes fuzzy search for buildings by name and aliases, GPS-based facility finder, step-free accessible routing, and shareable deep-link URLs.
• Parenting with Anxiety RCT Framework Online intervention teaching anxious parents strategies to reduce anxiety transmission to their children, delivered through a custom PHP framework built on Moodle for randomised controlled trials. The framework handles participant randomisation, conditional module access, GDPR compliance, group allocation, blinding where required, and completion rate tracking.
• Syntoolkit Experiment Platform Drupal and PHP-based platform for creating and hosting online psychology experiments with a form builder, WYSIWYG editor, TinyMCE plugin for conditional questionnaire logic, custom JavaScript experiment integration, REST API for results storage, and support for invite-only researcher groups. Hosted more than 16,000 sessions and 1.2 million individual trials.
• Colourspot Colour Vision Assessment Unity3D iPad game that assesses colour vision in children using custom GLSL shaders for controlled and accurate colour presentation across different iPad models, with real-time statistical analysis of tap patterns to detect common colour vision deficiencies. Validated and published in the peer-reviewed journal Behavior Research Methods.
• Soundsight Audio Navigation App Swift iPhone app that turns the camera's sense of distance into sound, helping visually impaired people navigate. Uses depth camera data to generate real-time spatial audio parameters, with distance and position of obstacles mapped to pitch, volume, and spatial placement using CoreAudio, gesture-based parameter configuration, JSON configuration files, and later support for Structure.io and Flir One heat sensors.

Quantifiable outcome

• 82% of participants reported using the Parkinson's toolkit frequently and 87% found it helpful for managing symptoms
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature10 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Radio TimesflagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership with Radio Times for the Screen Test project. Radio Times branding is integrated throughout the mobile app, leveraging existing trust and recognition. The partnership provided reach and credibility for recruiting large panels of TV viewers for Sussex University research.
• UCL Medical PhysicscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Collaboration on NextBrain project - interactive atlas of the human brain built from 3D histology. Part of a landmark study published in Nature.
• UK Dementia Research InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partner in NextBrain project contributing to brain atlas research published in Nature journal.
• Martinos Center at HarvardcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022International collaboration partner on NextBrain brain atlas project, part of 10-year research effort.
• Massachusetts General HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022International collaboration partner on NextBrain brain atlas project.
• Cardiff UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Academic collaboration partner on NextBrain brain atlas published in Nature.
• University of IowacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022International academic partner contributing to NextBrain brain atlas research.
• Collective ActcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in The Perception Census - large-scale public study of human perception. Platform supported 33,780 participants from 133 countries.
• University of GlasgowcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner with Sussex University on The Perception Census project, awarded for creative effectiveness.
• UCL Legacies of British Slavery DatabaseminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerModernisation project for historical database documenting British slave-ownership. Applied security fixes and ORM migration to 12-year-old codebase.
• UCL PD-Care Research GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDevelopment partner for Live Well with Parkinson's digital self-management toolkit deployed in national clinical trial. Results show 82% frequent usage and 87% found it helpful.
• NIHR ARC Kent Surrey SussexcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner for Whole School and College Approach Toolkit. Multi-panel Laravel application for mental health research across UK schools.
• Landecker Digital Memory LabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDevelopment partner for Landecker Digital Memory Database - searchable archive of digital memory projects from Holocaust memorial organisations worldwide.
• UCLH (University College London Hospitals)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerINFORMus ICU dashboard project under formal honorary contract from 2020 to 2025. Real-time patient dashboard for ICU wards.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Arkivum: UK digital preservation and archiving services provider that builds bespoke long-term data management systems for universities, research institutions, and cultural archives — directly comparable heritage/research client base.
• Nomensa: Bristol-based UX and accessibility agency delivering bespoke digital experiences with a strong accessibility and inclusive-design practice, mirroring Mindful Code's accessibility-first development ethos.
• Cogapp: Brighton-based digital agency building bespoke software and digital experiences for museums, galleries, libraries, and cultural heritage clients. Closest UK peer in domain (cultural heritage) and operating geography to Mindful Code.
• Keepthinking: London-based digital studio specialising in bespoke platforms, search, and visualisation tools for cultural heritage institutions, museums, and foundations. Directly comparable bespoke development model for the same vertical.

Broad incumbents

• Tessella (Capgemini Engineering): Formerly an independent UK-based scientific software consultancy that built bespoke analytical and research software for academic and industrial clients; now part of Capgemini Engineering, representing the scaled version of Mindful Code's academic research software model.
• Preservica: UK-headquartered provider of digital preservation software and services to museums, galleries, universities, and government archives — a broader incumbent serving the same heritage/research customer segment with a productised platform approach.

Emerging players

• Preloaded: London-based studio designing serious games and interactive experiences for learning, health, and research contexts; overlaps with Mindful Code's Unity3D and interactive media work (e.g. Colourspot, Soundsight).

Regional players

• Clearleft: Brighton-based UX, research, and product design consultancy; a local geographic peer (same city) that delivers bespoke digital products for enterprise and public-sector clients using comparable discovery-to-delivery approaches.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses6 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MINDFUL CODE LTD