If you get too distracted to read this story the whole way through, perhaps you should consider joining the millions of people who use brain training app Lumosity.
On Thursday, the San Francisco-based maker of brain fitness games and neuroscience research company said that it had grown 150 percent year-over-year to reach more 35 million people around the world. And in January of this year, the company said the mobile app was downloaded nearly 50,000 times a day, with its website receiving more than 17 million unique U.S. visitors.
CEO Kunal Sarkar also said the company’s revenue has increased by more than 100 percent each year since its launch and reached $ 24 million in 2012.
That’s good news for the company, especially considering the more than $ 70 million Lumosity has raised in the last few years and the millions of dollars spent on marketing, including TV ads.
Created by neuroscientists and launched in 2007, Lumosity offers more than 40 games to members from around the world. Users can start playing for free but to access the majority of content, people must pay $ 80 a year or $ 15 a month. Its pitch is that by drawing from research from top neuroscientists, Lumosity’s games can help people improve their memory, attention and creativity.
Sarkar attributes much of the company’s growth to its emphasis on making the games interesting to learners of all ages.
“We focused on making the product very appealing so that anyone, starting with a 10-year-old up to my dad [who’s] 72, can use it and feel like it’s relevant to them,” he said.
As consumer appetite for health-related technology and digital content grows, it makes sense that people would be increasingly interested in products that enhance their mental fitness. Companies like Posit Science and Dakin (which targets those over 60) similarly promise brain training programs backed by neuroscience but seem to focus more on therapeutic applications and specific populations.
Going forward, Sarkar said the company’s focus is on mobile and international expansion. It intends to launch a new app in the U.S. this quarter and, later this year, it plans to release foreign language versions of the app (about a third of Lumosity’s members are already international).
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