Meditating In The Metaverse: Tripp Expands Its Virtual Escapes

Tripp Inc., a Los Angeles-based digital wellness platform, says it has raised $11.2 million to finance ways to technologically enhance well-being in the metaverse.

The Tripp platform enables users to create their own experience of visuals and sounds during meditation sessions. The company provides users with a variety of virtual environments to choose from, such as “Circuit Tree Hero,” which displays a person’s face superimposed over a branching circuit diagram, and a “magic mushroom” landscape.

“TRIPP is a journey to the heart of your mind. It’s a digital wellness platform that unlocks awe, wonder, calm and focus,” the company says on its website.

The app’s objective is to create an environment that is conducive to achieving a state of tranquility or providing an escape to a distant location and other experiences, its website also says.

“We are advocates for and agents of personal transformation. While we’re seemingly focused on matters of the mind, what’s made us successful as the most trusted digital wellness platform for the metaverse is leading with the heart,” Tripp says.

Users of the platform can participate in live meditation classes offered by EvolVR while donning a virtual reality headset. In February, Tripp acquired EvolVR, an online community that provides meditation services.

“What I saw in EvolVR was a meditation group leader who created a safe space. They knew how to moderate the group in a way that impressed me,” Tripp CEO Nanea Reeves told TechCrunch in February.

“Even when the trolls turned up, they were ineffective,” Reeves said. “Even as the metaverse is expanding, it’s important to have zones where you’re free from harassment. We can create these mindful chill spaces that encourage a deeper connection to self and to others.”

In Tripp’s most recent funding round, lead investor Bitkraft Ventures was joined by Amazon Alexa Fund, chipmaker Qualcomm Inc., gaming company Niantic Inc, which is responsible for Pokemon Go and other augmented reality games, and HTC Corp. of Taiwan, a manufacturer of virtual headsets and smartphones.

“It was a really wonderful set of people we could mobilize behind this objective,” said Moritz Baier-Lentz, a partner at Bitkraft and a member of Tripp’s board.

Tripp has also acquired Eden, a virtual reality game developed by Bearded Eye.

“The launch of Eden on Tripp’s platform will be an important step toward establishing secure, community-driven experiences in the conscious metaverse,” Tripp said in a press release.

Produced in association with MetaNews.

Edited by Richard Pretorius and Matthew B. Hall