Melbourne-based startup Lumi Interactive has reportedly secured funding of USD 9 million for a mental wellness mobile game called Kinder World.

This seed investment is the largest venture capital funding for a women-founded game studio in Australia.

The company has been developing Kinder World for the past two years. The players take care of unkillable houseplants, and these plants would not die if they left the game without playing for a long time.

There are emotional check-ins where players can write down their feelings, kindness notes, or express daily gratitude.

The premise was developed during the six lockdowns imposed on Melbourne from 2020 to 2021 when random acts of kindness bettered the world, according to Co-Founder Lauren Clinnick.

The Co-Founder added that the plants are kept alive to relieve players from the feeling of failure. She noted that the game’s wellness aspect is developed by taking advice from behavioral researcher Dr. Hannah Gunderman.

It has been embraced by non-binary and women users on TikTok who offered feedback on the development of the game.

Clinnick remarked that Kinder World was not developed to replace other methods of improving mental health.

She added that the users want something on the grounds of a community space, and a lot of gamers will open the app to complete the well-being activity and get encouraging messages from other players.

The game is free to play and ad-free. But the company is developing a subscription option and in-app purchases.

One of the major obstacles to acquiring funds was the game’s anti-user engagement policy. But Clinnick cited that the company prioritized designing two five-minute sessions for each day.

After some initial crowdfunding, Lumi secured USD 6.75 million from various investors including Galileo Ventures and 1Up Ventures.

The app is still in the testing phase on Android and iOS before its expected launch by the end of this year.

Source credit:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/27/seed-funding-melbourne-startup-raises-9m-for-mental-wellness-game-based-on-tending-houseplants