Flown secures £2.5 million Seed investment led by Pi Labs

  • FLOWN – led by ex-Skimlinks founder Alicia Navarro – has secured £2.5m in Seed funding on top of its initial £1.2m pre-Seed round of funding 
  • The investment has been led by “future of work” investors Pi Labs, with follow-on from Skimlinks’ investors BDMI and Venrex
  • To ensure the future of work was driven by a balance of male and female voices, female-focused and -led funds such as January Ventures, Auxxo Ventures, and Alma Angels also participated in this round.

Deep work as-a-service pioneer, FLOWN, has announced that it has secured an additional £2.5m in seed funding to deliver focus to businesses. 

Led by serial entrepreneur Alicia Navarro, with her sister, COO Cat Navarro, FLOWN aims to change the way we think and work. FLOWN leverages neuroscience to make us more focused, creative, and fulfilled as we work, something that has become increasingly difficult as working practices have changed during the pandemic, and the WFH movement became a reality. While the pandemic may be almost over, the seismic shift made to how and where we work is here to stay, with many individuals and teams having transitioned to a fully remote or hybrid model, responding to employees’ desires for more flexibility and balance in their lives. 

The counterpoint to these remote working benefits is that many are now struggling with the lack of structure and accountability that workplace rituals used to provide. Many feel lonely and disconnected, and are languishing thanks to a lack of exposure to new people and ideas. 

FLOWN was started to address these challenges, and deliver deep work and flow states to knowledge workers every day. FLOWN offers tools such as Flocks which are facilitated virtual co-working sessions designed to promote accountability and improve focus. This is supplemented by on-demand content experiences, designed to help remote and hybrid workers recharge their focus and boost their creativity, productivity and work satisfaction.

Having closed their £1.2m Pre-seed round of funding during the first Covid lockdown, FLOWN has recently announced the closing of an additional £2.5m in Seed funding, led by “future of work” investors Pi Labs, as well as many who originally backed Navarro’s earlier venture Skimlinks, including BDMI and Venrex. As Navarro felt it important that the future of work was driven by a balance of male and female voices, she also invited female-focused funds such as January Ventures, Auxxo Ventures, and Alma Angels to participate in the round.

The corporate wellness market is $53bn, growing to $93bn by 2028. Meditation apps and gym memberships are common employee perks, but as more companies switch to full remote or hybrid working, tools like FLOWN that directly benefit both employee and company wellness are likely to flourish. This fund raise will help FLOWN target this opportunity.

Alicia Navarro, founder and CEO of FLOWN comments: “I believe deep work and flow states will be for the next decade what mindfulness has been for the last. 

“More and more businesses are realising that adopting a deep work culture within their teams and organisations is the key to driving growth and innovation in the business, as well as engagement and satisfaction within their teams.”

Hugo Silva, investment lead at Pi Labs adds: “We invested in FLOWN because, when we imagine what the future of the office means post-Covid, we see services that enable distributed teams to be efficient, creative, and engaged, irrespective of where they are working.

“Alicia’s plan to build a media company for deep work – taking the playbook of companies like Calm and Peloton and applying it to a workspace – is of its time. With founders like Alicia and Cat at the helm, we are excited to back this vision.” 

The corporate wellness market is $53bn, growing to $93bn by 2028. Meditation apps and gym memberships are common employee perks, but as more companies switch to full remote or hybrid working, tools like FLOWN that directly benefit both employee and company wellness are likely to flourish. This fund raise will help FLOWN target this opportunity.

Notes for editors:

About FLOWN:

Prior to FLOWN, Alicia successfully founded and ran content monetisation startup Skimlinks for 11 years, before it was acquired by Connexity during the first lockdown of 2020. 

FLOWN offers live facilitated deep work sessions as well as a collection of on-demand focus and recharge content, with more live content experiences in the works. Members get a 30-day free trial. Thereafter, tax-deductible subscriptions are available from £15/month, with a ‘free forever’ option also available. 

Business subscriptions are coming soon, with optional deep work culture coaches available (akin to Agile coaches). Business leaders interested in joining the FLOWN Business pilot can sign up for the waiting list at flown.com

About Pi Labs:

Global proptech venture capital (VC) firm Pi Labs backs the innovators revolutionising the future of physical spaces. 

Connecting next generation technologists with the real estate world and mentoring forward-thinking founders as they grow and scale their startups, Pi Labs’ purpose is to solve the greatest challenges facing the real estate world through technology and create a positive impact on our physical environment for people, businesses and communities. 

Founded in 2014, London-based Pi Labs invests in early-stage proptech startups which are transforming how we design, build and experience physical spaces across Europe – where it is the most active proptech VC. Its portfolio companies operate in global markets, including Asia and the US. From pre-seed to Series A and follow-on investments in later funding rounds, Pi Labs has grown its portfolio to more than 60 companies which are shaping the future of our physical spaces, with more than 50% of startups focused on addressing environmental and social issues.For more information, visit: pilabs.co.uk

Pevini Peiris

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