Sensible Object secures $3.2m funding to support new product development

Sensible Object, the firm behind Beasts of Balance and When In Rome, has raised a total of $3.2m in Series Seed 2 funding as it expands its product base and continues its growth in the connected play category.

Participants in the round include NCSOFT and March Capital, with early-stage investors London Venture Partners and the Amazon Alexa Fund following on, with the new funding set to support R&D, customer acquisition and new product development.

“Sensible Object was founded on the belief that we can offer players the best of physical, digital and human play, and I’m very proud of the team’s achievements so far,” said Alex Fleetwood, founder and CEO of Sensible Object.

“We saw incredible response to Beasts of Balance, having sold out last holiday season, and we have some amazing new expansions for 2018. We’re excited to be working at the cutting edge of smart home technology and voice AI with Amazon Alexa, creating a completely new kind of gameplay built around social interactions and active listening.”

This summer will see Sensible Object launch When In Rome, the first title in its Voice Originals series of games designed to be played using Amazon’s Alexa speaker. The game places Alexa in the role of host and games master; keeping track of the score, flying players around the world and introducing them to real locals from 20 different cities.

The firm also has plans to continue advancement of Beasts of Balance as well as launch a second game in the Voice Originals series.

“We are delighted to be an Alexa Fund portfolio company because we share a vision for the voice-first home,” added Fleetwood.

“By using Alexa as a driver of a new kind of connected play experience, we are driving down the price of connected play products to the point where we can compete directly with analogue counterparts.”

With the closing of this funding round, Sensible Object reports an investment total of more than $5m to date.

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