Biba Announces $1.3M in Pre-Series A Funding Led by Leonite Capital LLC to Accelerate Global Expansion

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - Sep 19, 2017) -   Biba, a Vancouver-based startup leading the smart playground movement to decrease screen time and get kids outside, today announces its 1,000th Biba playground and $1.3M in funding. The Pre-Series A funding round was led by Leonite Capital LLC with participation from Greg Zeschuk, Co-Founder of renowned game company BioWare, and Jason Kapalka, Co-Founder of equally renowned PopCap Games.

With a general decline in physical activity amongst children and a corresponding increase in screen time, Biba's mission is to re-orient the screen fixation of today's youth through its suite of augmented-reality enhanced mobile games that encourage physical activity on the playground. Any playground can be brought to life with a collection of Biba's augmented reality markers that attach to playground equipment in less than fifteen minutes. The markers unlock new content within the app that brings the playground to life when scanned on the parent's smartphone.

"I spent most of my career developing games that kept children on the couch for hundreds of hours," said Greg Zeschuk. "With Biba, I feel that I'm giving back to the world by making games that encourage children to go outside and get physical. Biba's games are not only fun and interactive, but really help children play harder and longer."

Biba's smart playground system also turns healthy gameplay into actionable data that park managers and owners can use to learn more about their community's play spaces. Rather than sending researchers out to parks with hand counters to record incoming and outgoing traffic, every time a Biba game is played, Biba can track a series of advanced metrics from time of day and duration of play sessions to weather conditions. This COPPA compliant data can then be used to generate a profile for each playground and deliver monthly reports to park and city officials.

"Playgrounds have been around for decades, and Biba is taking an innovative approach to not only make them more attractive to families, but more useful to cities," said Siegfried G. Eggret from Leonite Capital. "We support their mission and believe this technology should be integrated into all playgrounds."

The funding comes during a time of substantial growth that will push the company forward and help pave the way for future cities to adopt the innovative technology.

"The funding will be used to fuel R&D, create more games, and install more Biba playgrounds across the world," said Matt Toner, CEO of Biba. "When it comes to making an impact on childhood fitness, we've taken on a big mission. Our games help create a fun environment that today's children look forward to on the playground, while easing some of the challenges today's parents face when it comes to raising healthy kids."

To learn more about Biba and its technology and mobile games, visit www.bibaventures.com.

About Biba
 Founded in 2014, Biba Inc. is turning playgrounds across North America and beyond into smart playgrounds that re-engage parents and children through its augmented reality games and mobile apps. Cities and jurisdictions from all over benefit from Biba, as it uses the smartphones found in every parents' pocket or purse to unlock new and exciting games every time a family visits the playground. Biba games also have a second mission -- to address the problem of youth sedentariness and screen-fixation and turn healthy gameplay. Research has shown that Biba games help kids play longer, harder and more often, resulting in much better habits and health outcomes.