Andreessen Horowitz’s legendary US venture capital fund a16z has led a $ 6.75 million (Australian $ 9.76 million) seed fundraiser to the Australian-led Lumi Interactive gaming studio .
The Excessive Subscription Round was also supported by 1Up Ventures, Galileo Ventures, Heracles and Double Loop Games founder Emily Greer.
Lumi believes that its mission is to make the world a friendlier place and plans to use the funds to build the development team, scale its Kinder World game for a global release and bring the experience to more platforms both online as offline.
The startup has addressed the impact of the global pandemic by creating Kinder World, a “crowdhealing” game where players take care of their own unique indoor plants by taking care of themselves in the real world and sharing that kindness with other members of the community. Its design has been modeled by the startup’s internal wellness researcher, Dr. Hannah C. Gunderman.
A screenshot of the Kinder World app in action
Lumi Interactive co-founder and CEO Lauren Clinnick said it was a new milestone for the gaming industry as one of Australia’s largest seed rounds.
He said that while still in early access, F2P mobile gaming has found great support through TikTok, with players describing how traditional mental wellness apps “felt like a job” while Kinder World “it felt like a cup of hot tea” for his day.
“We are all exhausted and tired. In the depths of Melbourne’s long confines, my little team found that nature and compassion made a big difference in our personal lives, inspiring the creation of Kinder World,” he said.
“We call this kind of experience ‘crowdhealing’, where players come together to be kind to both themselves and others, helping to heal the wider gaming world. Lumi is entering its own fast-growing category and very necessary “.
A16z general partner James Gwertzman, who led the investment in Lumi, said: “Here, the goal is not to reach or compete, but to slow down, take a step back and take a much-needed mental health break.” .
Kinder World is now in early access to Android and iOS, with a full release scheduled for late 2022.
Clinnick said Lumi Interactive is currently hiring for various remote roles, including a procurement manager and a senior game designer.