Board, the new game startup from Mirror founder Brynn Putnam, raises $20M, has already sold thousands

Board, the three-year-old, New York-based startup gathering what it calls “together tech” — tech designed to bring radical physically into the aforesaid country — has closed a $20 cardinal Series A led by Union Square Ventures.

General Partner Michael Mignano, successful his archetypal concern since joining USV, volition articulation the company’s committee of directors. The circular besides brought successful immoderate celebrated angel investors including Biz Stone, Tim Ferriss, and Scott Belsky.

The rise comes astir 8 months aft laminitis Brynn Putnam — who antecedently sold connected fittingness startup Mirror to Lululemon for $500 cardinal — unveiled Board publicly astatine TechCrunch Disrupt past October.

The Board instrumentality is simply a 24-inch touchscreen successful a wood-finish framework that uses proprietary exertion to admit carnal crippled pieces, blending the tactile consciousness of committee games with the interactivity of video games.

Traction since motorboat has been strong, the institution says: Board is present successful tens of thousands of homes, schools, hospitals, and restaurants crossed each 50 states, with 85% of customers averaging 30 oregon much play sessions per month.

Alongside the funding, Board announced Board Studio, an AI-powered instauration level launching aboriginal this twelvemonth that volition fto anyone physique archetypal games utilizing earthy connection prompts — from thought to playable prototype successful nether an hour, it says.

Board had antecedently raised $15 cardinal successful backing led by the task steadfast Lerer Hippeau, which had besides led Mirror’s $3 cardinal effect circular years earlier. That was a stake that paid disconnected handsomely erstwhile Putnam sold the connected fittingness institution to Lululemon successful 2020.

Putnam sees Board arsenic a earthy hold of what she learned astir user hardware portion gathering Mirror. “Mirror was precise overmuch astir me,” she erstwhile told TechCrunch. “It was my reflection, my performance, it was astir making your ain aforesaid better. At that adjacent phase, my beingness was truly conscionable overmuch much astir my household and my friends and my relationships.”

The effect is simply a merchandise built astir the elemental but progressively fashionable thought that the champion usage of tech mightiness beryllium to get radical to enactment their devices down and look each different successful the face.

The rise arrives astatine a infinitesimal erstwhile user tech, agelong retired of favour with investors, is showing signs of bouncing back, driven successful ample portion by what AI is making recently possible.

“I’m much excited astir user than I’ve been successful a agelong time,” said Ben Lerer, managing spouse of Lerer Hippeau, precocious past twelvemonth during a separate sit-down with TechCrunch. “We’re seeing a precise high-quality radical of founders saying, ‘Now’s the clip to get backmost successful the pool.’ There are things that are imaginable contiguous that weren’t imaginable six months agone oregon a twelvemonth ago, and the slope is steep.”