Member Article

Calm Raises $27M in Series A Funding Led By Insight Venture Partners

Calm, the No. 1 app for meditation, mindfulness and sleep, today announced that it has raised $27 million in Series A funding, at a $250 million pre-money valuation. The funding round is led by Insight Venture Partners with participation from Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures and singer Harry Styles. Prior to this round, Calm raised $1.5 million from seed investors, bringing it now to $28.5 million in total funding to date.

“The last few years have been extraordinary for Calm,” said Michael Acton Smith, Calm co-founder and co-CEO. “Much of the growth has been fueled by word of mouth, and we now have over 26 million downloads – including five million in the UK – with 50,000 new sign-ups a day. In a very short space of time meditation has moved from the fringe of society to the mainstream.”

Calm plans to use the new funding to increase its international growth trajectory, furthering its mission to make the world happier and healthier. “Our ambition is to build one of the most valuable and meaningful brands in the world,” said Alex Tew, Calm co-founder and co-CEO. “Calm is a business with a rare combination of factors: fast-growing, profitable and positive for the world.”

Calm is headquartered in San Francisco but was founded and is run by two British entrepreneurs with signficant previous success to their name: Michael Acton Smith, best known for Moshi Monsters, the online game for children, and Alex Tew, best known for creating The Million-Dollar Homepage.

Calm has users in 190 countries and was named Apple’s 2017 iPhone App of the Year. Calm.com Inc generated $22 million in revenue in 2017, has reached an annual revenue run-rate of $75 million and is on track to deliver more than three times the revenue growth for the fourth year in a row in 2018.

“We are longtime users of the Calm app and truly believe in its purpose and the team behind it,” said Insight Ventures investor Harley Miller, along with fellow investor Nicolas Wittenborn. “We love Calm’s bold vision to further the practice of mindfulness and address some of today’s most important mental health issues, and we’re excited to see what the future holds.” Miller and Wittenborn are both joining the Calm board as observers.

Ashton Kutcher, founding partner of Sound Ventures, added, “Mental wellness is an extremely important issue in modern society. We think the Calm team has built a very impressive product that is improving the lives of millions of people. We believe in them and their grand vision to make the world a healthier and happier place.”

The Calm app, which helps users meditate, breathe, sleep and relax, features over 100 hours of original audio content, including The Daily Calm, Sleep Stories, meditation lessons, multi-day programs, nature sounds, Calm Masterclasses and music. It is free to download with an optional $60 annual subscription to unlock the full library of content

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Peter Rodgers .