Moshi, a sleep and mindfulness app for kids, raised $12 million in Series B funding. Accel (formerly Accel Partners), a venture capital firm, led the financing round with participation from Latitude Ventures and Triplepoint Capital. The round also included investment from Bill Roedy, the former MTV CEO.
As part of the investment, Latitude Ventures representative Julia Hawkins will join the Moshi board.
Michael Acton-Smith, the founder of Mind Candy (re-branded to Moshi), stepped down as CEO of the company in 2015 to co-found meditation and mindfulness app Calm but remains the former startup’s chairman. He tapped Ian Chambers to manage the company’s turnaround and the next phase. Chambers and his team then designed Moshi, launching in December 2017.
The Moshi app has 112,000 subscribers and charges $40 a year. Moshi subscribers get access to a library of original stories read by professional voice actors and intended to aid a restful night. It offers close to 150 bits of original content, with 80 original 30-minute bedtime stories written and produced entirely by the company. The app enables parents to create their custom playlist or choose from a themed playlist within the app.
The company plans to use the new funds to all new features and content in collaboration with sleep industry specialists and scientists, as well as scaling up user acquisition through marketing, advertising, and partnerships.
The app works like Calm but intended for ten or below age users. Last year, Calm, a developer of an app for meditation, mindfulness, sleep, and relaxing – raised $88 million in a Series B financing, at a billion-dollar valuation. The funding round was led by TPG Growth with participation from Creative Artists Agency, and existing investors Insight Venture Partners and Sound Ventures. Calm has now raised a total of $116 million in VC funding.
According to Mercom Q1 2020 Digital Health Funding Report, mHealth Apps focused on care, fitness, and wellness raised $365 million.
