Mirror Founder Brynn Putnam Secures $20M for ‘Together Tech’ Startup Board
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Bridging the Gap Between Tactile and Digital
In an era where screen time is often viewed as a barrier to genuine human connection, Brynn Putnam is betting that the right kind of hardware can actually facilitate it. Board, the New York-based startup founded by the former Mirror CEO, has closed a $20 million Series A funding round led by Union Square Ventures (USV). The investment marks a significant scale-up for a company attempting to pioneer what Putnam calls “together tech”—hardware specifically engineered to pull people out of their individual devices and into the same physical room.
The flagship product is a 24-inch touchscreen encased in a wood-finish frame, designed to look less like a computer monitor and more like a piece of living room furniture. Unlike traditional tablet gaming, Board utilizes proprietary sensor technology to recognize physical game pieces. This allows players to interact with tangible objects while the screen handles the complex logic, scoring, and interactivity of a video game, effectively merging the nostalgic feel of a tabletop board game with the dynamic capabilities of modern software.
The funding round is particularly notable for its backers. Michael Mignano, a General Partner at USV, will join Board’s board of directors in his first investment since joining the firm. The round also attracted a high-profile group of angel investors, including Biz Stone, Tim Ferriss, and Scott Belsky, signaling strong confidence in Putnam’s ability to execute on consumer hardware—a sector that has historically been fraught with risk for venture capitalists.
From Solo Fitness to Social Play
For Putnam, Board is a philosophical pivot from her previous success. After selling the connected fitness platform Mirror to Lululemon for $500 million in 2020, Putnam spent years focusing on the “self”—fitness, reflection, and individual performance. However, the transition to Board represents a shift toward collective experience. The company’s current traction suggests a market appetite for this shift; Board reports that its devices are already deployed in tens of thousands of homes, hospitals, schools, and restaurants across the U.S.
The data provided by the startup indicates a level of engagement that exceeds many casual gaming apps. According to Board, 85% of its customers average 30 or more play sessions per month, suggesting that the tactile nature of the device creates a more habitual loop than purely digital experiences.
The AI Component: Board Studio
While the hardware is the centerpiece, the company is leveraging generative AI to solve the perennial problem of content scarcity in niche hardware. Alongside the funding news, the company announced Board Studio, an AI-powered creation platform scheduled for release later this year.
Board Studio aims to democratize game design by allowing users to create original games using natural language prompts. The company claims the platform can take a user from a conceptual idea to a playable prototype in under an hour, effectively turning the consumer into a creator and ensuring a constant stream of new content for the device without relying solely on a centralized studio team.
A Signal for Consumer Hardware’s Return
The $20 million injection comes at a pivotal moment for the broader tech ecosystem. For several years, investors have shied away from the “hardware graveyard,” preferring the scalability of pure SaaS. However, the emergence of LLMs and advanced AI is making new types of hardware-software integration possible, sparking a renewed interest in physical products.
Ben Lerer, managing partner of Lerer Hippeau—which previously led Mirror’s seed round and Board’s initial $15 million raise—has noted a trend of high-quality founders returning to the consumer pool. The belief is that the current technical slope is steep enough to allow for innovations that were simply impossible a few years ago.
By combining a physical touchpoint with an AI-driven creation engine, Board is attempting to carve out a category that isn’t just about “gaming,” but about the social architecture of the home.
