Board raises $15M and launches the first hybrid board game / video game console
Oct 29, 2025 with Brynn Putnam
Key Points
- Board launches a 24-inch touchscreen console that recognizes physical game pieces, shipping November 10 to capture the holiday window and create a new gaming category blending board and video game mechanics.
- The company raises $15M from First Round Capital, Lair, Box, and others, kicking off its Series A with founder Brynn Putnam leveraging hardware expertise from her previous Mirror acquisition by Lululemon.
- Board ships 12 native titles and is positioning itself as a platform where third-party developers and brands can build, betting the defining hit comes from outside developers rather than ported games.
Summary
Brynn Putnam, founder and CEO of Board, has launched what the company positions as an entirely new gaming category: a 24-inch touchscreen console that recognises physical game pieces by identity, position, and movement, blending board game and video game mechanics into a single surface. The device ships the week of November 10, 2025, putting it squarely in the holiday window.
Board has raised $15 million in funding, with participation from Lair, Box, First Round Capital, Adjacent, Patron, Metrodora, and SV Angel. The company is now kicking off its Series A.
Putnam previously founded Mirror, the connected fitness mirror acquired by Lululemon, giving her direct hardware-at-scale experience. Board is manufactured by a tier-one contract manufacturer in Thailand with display product expertise, which Putnam says allows rapid inventory scaling as demand signals emerge.
The console launches with 12 original titles, ranging from arcade games to 3D spatial strategy. Board made a deliberate choice to build new-native IP rather than port existing titles, drawing a parallel to how the Wii Remote unlocked Wii Sports and swipe mechanics unlocked Angry Birds. The bet is that the defining hit will come from third-party developers building on the platform.
The platform play is the core thesis. Putnam frames Board's role as enabling other businesses to build on a shared physical-digital screen, explicitly describing it as a place where "multibillion-dollar businesses can be born." Inbound interest from brands and IP holders accelerated sharply within 24 hours of launch, including a post about the product from Mick Jagger.
Pricing and unit economics were not disclosed. The product is available at board.fun.