Imagine a world where technology, powered by the latest advances in science and behavioral psychology, serves as a force for good, enhancing our well-being and steering us toward a more harmonious existence. At Niremia Collective, our mission is to bring this vision to life by investing in startups that develop innovative mental health solutions, promote new ways of working, support healthy aging, and advance human-centric urban design.
With over 240 million video game players in the United States alone and an abundance of new research demystifying the positive effects of games, a new wave of innovative startups is bringing well-being and gaming together. Niremia Collective is excited to support Skillprint, a science-backed, AI-powered gaming platform that helps people learn more about themselves and shift their moods with games.
Founded in 2019 by gaming industry veterans Chethan Ramachandran and Davin Miyoshi, the Oakland-based company uses advanced AI technology and cognitive science research to analyze how people engage with games, providing unique insights into their personality traits, skills, and mindset. Its platform rates games for skills assessment and mood, matching users with personalized recommendations.
“The future of gaming is adaptive hyper-personalized games that are based on an individual's mind,” says Ramachandran. “Skillprint is very close to actually realizing this vision.”
Ramachandran, who sold his predictive analytics company Playnomics to the gaming giant Unity in 2014, became fascinated with the idea of using prediction and data mining to understand the effects games could have on players. After consulting with neuroscience and cognitive science labs, he realizes that games are often used to not only understand how the mind works, but how to grow it in different ways.
“I think that neuroscience and the brain, digital technology and interactive experiences are all going to collide together,” says Ramachandran.
The potential applications are vast, says Ramachandran. Want to become more emotionally stable? Play this game. Need to calm down? Try that one. This approach could improve mental health, enhance workforce training, and even develop digital therapeutics.
In fact, mobile games can positively impact mental well-being, in particular, creativity, determination, and focus, according to the Skillprint research published last year. Different genres and game mechanics cater to different motivations, offering varied benefits. For example, puzzle games often lead people to feel more creative, while timed games often lead to more focus.
“Our mission is to tell people that games are good for your mind,” says Ramachandran. “Games tease your mind in a way that no other medium can do, and we want to be the underlying platform that proves that and enables that for a range of uses.”
With a growing monthly user base and more than 40 curated games already available on its platform, Skillprint captures and analyzes an average of 1,200 events per user to predict personality traits and skills. The company plans to grow its consumer offering and work with developers to help them find the right players for their games.
At Niremia Collective, we invest in the future. With Skillprint, we see a future where gaming is not just a pastime but a pathway to a better, healthier, and more fulfilled life. We are proud to support Skillprint in its mission to change the way we think about games and their potential to improve our lives. Together, we can make this vision a reality.
