Tripp has raised $11.2 million in funding to help him continue creating meditation apps that drive the “mindful metaverse.”

Funding was obtained from Bitkraft Ventures, Amazon Alexa Fund, Qualcomm, HTC, Niantic, and Mayfield. Tripp announces that it will use the funds to help meet the growing global demand for mental wellness through Tripp’s extended reality (XR) wellness accessible through augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mobile app. .

The company also recently announced the acquisition of Eden, BeardedEye’s world-building platform, which will allow users to further personalize their Tripp experience, explore digital realities and meet other people.

Launching Eden on Tripp’s platform will be a big step toward creating safe, community-driven experiences in the sentient metaverse, the company said.

“We are grateful that more and more investors are recognizing the need for innovative wellness tools that expand beyond traditional meditation apps,” said Nanea Reeves, founder and CEO of Tripp, in a statement. “Through our acquisition of Eden, we are one step closer to truly building a conscious metaverse and establishing a safe space for transformative experiences in digital realities, while also empowering creators to join us in our mission.” .

Reeves recently spoke about the sentient metaverse at VentureBeat’s GamesBeat Summit 2022 event.

The new funding comes at a time when access to mental health care is in greater demand than ever. According to the World Health Organization, the pandemic has caused a 25% increase in anxiety and depression worldwide, and resources to address these issues have become increasingly limited.

Tripp’s digital support tools can help users take control of their mental health through meditative experiences.

“Tripp’s innovative platform highlights the unique magic of virtual reality in supporting mindfulness for people around the world and represents an important step toward normalizing the broader discussion about the role of technology in mental health.” Pearly Chen, vice president of HTC Vive, said in a statement. “We are proud to be a part of their journey as we work together to build the conscious metaverse and help people everywhere foster a deeper connection with themselves.”

Tripp’s acquisition of Eden’s cross-service world-building technology marks an important milestone in pioneering the conscious metaverse as a safe space for users to connect with and support the emotional and mental well-being of others, the company said.

The acquisition will allow users to explore artwork and soundscapes while connecting with users around the world.

“With more than a billion people around the world suffering from depression, anxiety or stress, we are hopeful that innovations like Tripp can be part of the solution,” Bitkraft Ventures partner Moritz Baier-Lentz said in a statement. . “Beyond a great product that is already a leader in its category, there was a lot to like about what Nanea and the Tripp team had built. It is rare to find such a combination of true founding market fit, operational excellence and an exciting vision with many avenues for future growth.”

A business trip

Eden marks Tripp’s third acquisition, and second this year, following its acquisition of EvolVR, the largest live virtual reality meditation community, in January. The announcement comes on the heels of TRIPP’s recently revamped mobile app and collaboration with Luminance to develop next-generation wellness experiences as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Tripp has 29 employees and 14 part-time session leaders who lead live daily group meditations. Reeves founded the company in 2017 and raised $4 million that same year. In an email to GamesBeat, Reeves said that he started Tripp after a period of “tremendous loss realizing how meditation and video games helped me overcome many of life’s challenges. I wanted to build something that could help others along the same lines.”

For its business model, Tripp runs a cross-platform consumer subscription service. However, it is currently developing enterprise and clinical offerings that will begin shipping in the next 12 months.

Tripp’s mindfulness catalog has over 50 experiences, with new content being added regularly.

“Our core Focus and Calm experiences are designed to work at different times of the day, and we’ve added new updates to them to support ongoing engagement,” said Reeves. “We are in the final definition of a new experience called Drift, which is designed to help with sleep preparation. We’re also expanding into augmented reality in a very exciting way that’s an extension of the VR experience, but will stand alone in mobile AR as well. We’re building much of this into the Niantic Lightship platform in a way that will encourage people to connect with the world around them with mindful interactions.”