Lumosity

Lumosity is an online program consisting of games claiming to improve memory, attention, flexibility, speed of processing, and problem solving.[1]

Lumosity
Type of site
Public
Available inEnglish, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese
Key peopleSteven Berkowitz (CEO)
Revenue$23,600,000
URLwww.lumosity.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
Launched2007
Current statusActive

History

Lumos Labs was founded in 2005 by Kunal Sarkar, Michael Scanlon, and David Drescher.[2] Lumosity.com launched in 2007 and, as of January 2015, has 70 million members.[3][4]

Financials

The company raised $400,000 in capital from angel investors in 2007,[5] a Series A of $3 million from Harrison Metal Capital, FirstMark Capital and Norwest Venture Partners in 2008,[6] a Series C of $32.5 million led by Menlo Ventures,[7] and a Series D of $31.5 million led by Discovery Communications with participation from existing investors.[8]

On January 5, 2016, Lumos Labs agreed to a $50 million settlement (reduced to $2 million subject to financial verification) to the Federal Trade Commission over claims of false advertising for their product. The Commission found that Lumosity's marketing "preyed on consumers' fears about age-related cognitive decline, suggesting their games could stave off memory loss, dementia, and even Alzheimer's disease", without providing any scientific evidence to back its claims. The company was ordered not to make any claims that its products can "[improve] performance in school, at work, or in athletics" or "[delay or protect] against age-related decline in memory or other cognitive function, including mild cognitive impairment, dementia, or Alzheimer's disease", or "[reduce] cognitive impairment caused by health conditions, including Turner syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, or side effects of chemotherapy", without "competent and reliable scientific evidence".[9][10][11]

There is no good medical evidence to support claims that memory training helps people improve cognitive functioning.[12]

See also

References
  1. ""Brain training" with Lumosity — does it really work?". consumer.ftc.gov. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  2. Roubein, Rachel (August 24, 2011). "Brain-Training Games Are New Exercise Craze". USA Today.
  3. Sherr, Ian (November 5, 2013). "Small Brain-Training Game Maker Getting Bigger". Wall Street Journal.
  4. "Let's celebrate — this month Lumosity added our 70 millionth member!". Lumosity on Google+.
  5. Kaplan, Dan (June 11, 2007). "Lumosity Raises $400,000 for Fames to Improve Brain". VentureBeat.
  6. Glazowski, Paul (June 3, 2008). "Lumosity Nets $3m For Brain Gaming". Mashable.
  7. Rao, Leena (June 16, 2011). "Lumosity Raises $32.5 Million For Brain Fitness Games". TechCrunch.
  8. Rao, Leena (August 22, 2012). "Lumosity Raises $31.5M from Discovery Communications for Brain Fitness Games". TechCrunch.
  9. "Lumosity to Pay $2 Million to Settle FTC Deceptive Advertising Charges for Its "Brain Training" Program". ftc.gov. U.S. Federal Trade Commission. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  10. "Lumosity pays $2 million to FTC to settle bogus "Brain Training" claims". Ars Technica. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  11. "Lumosity to Pay $2 Million to Settle FTC Deceptive Advertising Charges for Its "Brain Training" Program". Washington Post. 5 January 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  12. Melby-Verlag, M. & Hulme, C. (February 2013). "Is Working Memory Training Effective? A Meta-Analytic Review". Developmental Psychology. 49 (2): 270–291. doi:10.1037/a0028228. PMID 22612437.
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