US-based mindfulness and meditation app developer Calm has added $27m to a series B round already backed by talent and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) that is now sized at $115m.
Venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners led the extension, participating with assorted angel investors. CAA took part in the $88m first close in February 2019, which was led by TPG Growth, an offshoot of private equity group TPG, with contributions from Insight Partners and Sound Ventures.
Calm maintained its $1bn valuation for the extension despite continued business growth. Lightspeed partner Nicole Quinn told TechCrunch this was because her firm had aimed to take part in the first tranche but was delayed by the due diligence process.
Founded in 2012, Calm has developed a freemium app that initially focused on mindfulness-based guided meditation programs to help users improve their mental health. It also provides video-based lessons on gentle stretching, and music composed to induce focus or sleep.
While Calm continues to offer these features, it has since shifted its focus on to bedtime stories narrated by celebrities such as actor Matthew McConaughey, actor and television host Stephen Fry, singer Leona Lewis and comedian and children’s book author David Walliams.
Calm is adding new users at a rate of one per second, according to Quinn. It has grown its paid subscriber base to 2 million and its content has been downloaded more than 50 million times to date, with the stories accounting for more than 150 million of those downloads.
The company has now raised $143m in funding in total. It received $27m in a series A round led by Insight Partners in June 2018 that also featured Sound Ventures and musician Harry Styles. Its earlier backers include Launch Fund, AngelList and angel investors Matt Mullenweg and Matt Cheng.
– Feature image courtesy of Calm.
