Origin Story
Built because the evidence gap was costing people their funding.
We kept seeing the same thing: extraordinary programmes, genuine human impact, and no way to show it. The organisations doing the most meaningful work were the least equipped to answer a funder's spreadsheet.
So we built Biiah to close that gap. Not a generic wellness app. Not a data tool that needs a data team. A platform built specifically for the people running arts and culture programmes, and the participants whose voices deserved to be heard.
Team
Xann Schwinn
Founder & CEO
University of Cambridge, MMusic
Berklee College of Music, BMusic Business
Dr. Kirsten Rennie
Chief Scientific Officer
University of Cambridge, PhD Epidemiology
University of Cambridge, MA Bio Anthropology
Richard Harmon
University of Manchester, MPhysics
Lead Developer
Founding CTO
Anthony Jenking
Exit-ed Founder, Serial CTO
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University of Cambridge, BA Computer Science
Research Partner, Qualitative Measures
Dr. Minjie Gao
Assistant Professor (Public Services & Technology), King's College London
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Bayes Business School, PhD Management
Durham University, MA Management
Beijing University, BA English
Dr. Katie Bank
Research Partner, Choral Singing
Research Fellow (Music Making), University of Birmingham; & Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford
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Royal Holloway, PhD Musicology
King's College London, MMusic
Bowdoin College, BA History & Music
Matthew Cleevely
Founding Chairman
Exit-ed Founder, Angel Investor, Author
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University of Cambridge, MPhil Economics
University of Oxford, MEng Engineering, Economics, Management
Backed By
Partners
Academic Research
Can Beauty Save the World?
Catholic University of America & University of Birmingham
An international, interdisciplinary study exploring how beauty fosters shared meaning, belonging, and wellbeing. Funded by the John Templeton Foundation. Biiah is a contracted measurement partner, providing wellbeing survey infrastructure and data analysis across fieldwork sites including choral ensembles, immersive theatre, and the House of Beautiful Business Forum.
EVENTS
Workplace Wellbeing Programme
Singforce
Workplace choir programme
A professionally facilitated workplace singing programme running across organisations in the UK. Biiah measures wellbeing session by session, tracking mood, energy, social cohesion, and connection across recurring programmes. Annual impact reports delivered for HR and CSR reporting.
Group Singing Workshop Series
Back Together Again
Designed & Facilitated by Mark De-Lisser
Back Together Again is Mark’s annual celebration of communal singing – a full-day intensive workshop that welcomes singers of all levels, backgrounds and styles. No auditions. No prerequisites. Just voices, and the transformative experience of making music together.
Now in its fourth year, the workshop has become a late-summer ritual for hundreds of singers across the UK – part technique, part joy, entirely unforgettable.
EVENTS
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Back Together Again - Year 1 (2023)
Southbank Centre | 500 Attendees -
Back Together Again - Year 2 (2024)
Southbank Centre | 500 Attendees -
Back Together Again - Year 3 (2025)
The Emmanuel Centre | 500 Attendees -
Back Together Again - Year 4 (2026)
The Emmanuel Centre | 500 Attendees
Who is Biiah?
Bii•ah | [bɪa] noun
“Bia” in Greek mythology is the goddess of power, force, and strength.
Here at Biiah we believe in the untapped power of the human spirit. It is through the arts that it can be used as a force for good.
Our products and programmes build personal strength and resilient communities by encouraging the exploration of making sound.
Making art is an intrinsic part of the human experience and so it is our mission to empower millions to take better control of their health and improve their quality of life through it.