To do this, they take advantage of virtual experiences that enable self-learning. Through Middin, these young entrepreneurs make a harsh critique of gender inequality, based on people’s capacity for change. In this interview we will talk about it.

What is Middin?
Leyre: Middin is a gamified platform for training in gender equality and sex education. In 360º we recreate everyday situations. Users have a direct role to play, including interactions within the formations. There, they have the opportunity to choose different paths.

How did you come up with the idea? What are the goals of the project?
Sara: We’ve been working on female sexuality and menstruation at LEINN for four years, and we’ve had an interest in working on these issues for a long time, and the harsh confinement of Covid-19 led us to develop Middin. All this time we researched the sector and the technologies that can be implemented, and we decided to develop this project. We were very clear about which sectors we wanted to focus on, but we felt it was essential to find that technology. The opportunity provided by Eiwa Space and Innovae allowed us to carry out the project within the themes we wanted to work on.
The aim is to make a strong critique of inequalities, focusing on people’s capacity for change, training in sex education, and gender equality, with extensive training in these issues.
L: Right now, we are targeting the digital platform to different sectors, schools, universities, companies and public institutions, and what we are doing is adapting our service to each sector so that this issue is delivered across all sectors.

What does the platform contain?
L: The platform has a lot of content. The main basis is 360º simulations and recreations of everyday situations that we provide in virtual reality, but we help to learn all these experiences with different formats, such as streaming, interviews, forums, surveys, to make the experience as appropriate as possible, and above all this goal offer different ways of consuming. Topics to be discussed include body, physical stereotypes, homework, caregiving, or workplace harassment or diagnoses that can be made at the institutional level.

What services do you offer?
L: The services we offer are the design and development of all training content, the creation of these diagnoses and how we bring these companies and brands closer to the new generations. Right now with the pandemic it is very dangerous to hold pre-events, but we are open to any offers or proposals they make to us so that they are available to more and more people.

How do you see the situation of young people in terms of inequality?
S: We think the main problem is the base. It is clear that the education system we have today does not match the needs of the outside world, and we want to emphasize that when the industrial system was in need at the time, it had to adapt to the needs of the market. On the other hand, the education system did not change and became obsolete in all its functions. Thus, teaching has been left out and does not meet the needs of children and young people today.

Do you think that reality improves over time?
L: We don’t dare say that he’s improving a lot or he’s doing it at a pace he needs. What worries us is that today the same violence suffered by grandmothers or mothers is suffered by children or adolescents, as well as other groups, such as LGTBIQ +, who suffer the same violence as they did a few years earlier. So what we always say is that sexist violence does not stop or reduce, but is transformed by adapting to the new times of new generations, creating new strategies. And this pandemic has shown the worst violence and is trying to make the current movement, such as the feminist movement, invisible. This is why it is so important for all of us to be aware of and change our way of acting or our way of life.

As a woman, how do you see the current feminist movement?
L: The pandemic has shown that the measures they are taking are inadequate, inadequate and worsening the situation of the feminist movement. You just have to look at cases of domestic violence, the precariousness in the workplace, such as in the health sector, is enormous and most of the workers are women, and there is global precariousness. Only the issue of the pandemic is discussed on TV news, which does not help movements that want to make a change, in this case the feminist.

What are the most common situations of inequality today?
L: It is very difficult to say something concrete, but we would like to say what is the most direct or suffered violence. The first would be psychological abuse, that is, insults, humiliations, threats ... that endanger the mental health of the victims. Then there would be physical violence, which puts the physical health of the victims at risk. There would also be economic violence, which means that through economic and material resources, many women are unable to work or reach places they would like to reach. For example, that there is no paid care work, that there is a glass ceiling, a pay gap ... And then there is sexual violence, not giving permission or trying to convince that person to do something, sexual assaults, humiliations ...

Then we would go to the places where people suffer the most. There are two distinct areas, public and private. In private it would be what everyone does against their will or against themselves. Then there would be the part of the couple, both spontaneous or occasional, as well as stable and prolonged, affective-sexual relationships and especially family. And in the public sphere, we would enter more into spaces for school, work and leisure, as they are not safe for many women or many groups. And last but not least, new generations, virtual spaces. There’s no denying that technology is very beneficial right now, but it’s often not used properly.

How do you see the future in this issue?
S: Nowadays, there are more and more movements like Women In Progress that support and give visibility to women, as well as serve as a reference. It is clear that change is already happening. It’s a matter of time and struggle and starting to see more women in the technology sectors. On the other hand, within the startup world, it is true that there are more and more women. For example, Leyre, Oihane and for me, Ferly has been a benchmark, a startup created in the UK in 2018 that offers sex education podcasts and has so far raised $ 8 million in investment rounds. So the key is to have references and we have found them. We believe that it is a key factor for future generations to take that step and be able to create or find what they want.
L: I encourage young people and teenagers to create radical projects to make a difference in today’s society, that’s the most important thing. Without a new proposal or project, nothing will change.

What have been the biggest obstacles to creating a company like Middin?
S: We are three women, young people, developing a startup for sex education and equality in a male-led technology sector. We don’t want to position ourselves to say whether this is better or worse, but what we do know is that it is a very distinctive point among the rest of us within this world. What we emphasize is that we offer something different and innovative, something that was not offered before, and thanks to Innovae and Eiwa, we feel very protected in the environment we are in.

What is the best and worst thing about being an entrepreneur?
S: The good thing about developing Middin and living as an entrepreneur is that we do what we love and feel happy to have these kinds of opportunities close by. Middin is not another project; it is the goal we have in our lives today and we are committed to it. But there is a downside to having a bet and each bet has its own risk. Surely the downside is that you are investing so much time and resources with little uncertainty or opportunity that you will not succeed. But we want to emphasize that this type of opportunity does not come to mind, but rather the long-term development and strategy of the startup.

What advice would you give to those who are thinking of starting a business?
S: The first piece of advice we would give is to be related to the purpose of the company. It’s essential to feel comfortable at work every day and every minute you give up. And on the other hand, and technically speaking, we personally believe that technology needs to be present today. This feature makes it fully scalable and therefore essential within the needs of the project. Because of the pandemic and Covid, we have realized that something other than digital is no longer alive in the market today.

What are your future plans?
S: Ley, Oihan and I always talk about creating our own educational methodology so that we can change the current model of education on our own, creating an updated model that will meet the needs of today’s society in particular. On the other hand, our goal with the startup is to create this social change by creating a network of all actors, starting with young people, going through public institutions and reaching out to the business world. And finally, out of this life. We are currently offering our 100% and the taste on the cake would be to be able to live from it for a long time.

www.wearemiddin.com