Brain Training developer gets $31.5m funding

Luminosity has raised $31.5 million in Series D funding in a round led by Discovery Communications.

The company is behind a series of games designed to heighten mental awareness, memory, and help speed up and clarify thinking.

Gamification, or the use of games in non-gaming applications, has taken a good deal of fire from academics like Ian Bogost, but seems to have found a permanent home in health and education.

Gamification also continues to attract attention from investors, and this funding round recieved contributions from existing backers FirstMark Capital, Harrison Metal, Menlo Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners.

"Our goal has always been to use technology to create cutting-edge neuroscience-based programs that help people reach their full potential," said Kunal Sarkar, co-founder and CEO of Lumosity.

"We’re motivated by the millions of consumers who use Lumosity every day to enhance their lives, and we’re excited that Discovery Communications has decided to support our growth into a global learning brand."

Over the past year, Luminosity’s user base doubled in size to over 25 million, and its mobile app has been downloaded over 10 million times.

The data harvested from Luminosity’s brain training excercises is used by neuroscience experts and researchers, and forms the world’s largest database of human cognitive performance.