Calm (company)


Calm is a software company based in San Francisco, California. It produces meditation products, including guided meditations and Sleep Stories.

History

Calm was founded in 2012 by Michael Acton Smith and Alex Tew. Tamara Levitt became the Head of Mindfulness in November 2014 and is one of the app's primary narrators.
The company generated $22 million in revenue in 2017 and reached an annual revenue run rate of $75 million., Calm had raised $1.5M in angel investments.
As of February 2019, the company was valued at $1 Billion and had raised $116 million, with contributions from existing investors, including Insight Venture Partners, Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures, and Creative Artists Agency.
Calm was Apple's "App of the Year" in 2017, and was ranked by Inc. as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America in 2018.

Product

Calm produces meditation products, including guided meditations, a book, narrated Sleep Stories, and health and meditation videos. Their primary product is the meditation app, available on iPhone and Android devices.
The app features both meditation tools and sleep aids.
The meditation area offers breathing exercises, a daily meditation, several multi-day programs, and unguided and guided meditation sessions.
On December 1, 2016, Calm launched an initial range of 23 Sleep Stories, with the aim of helping adult listeners sleep.
Sleep Stories include archival recordings of Bob Ross, classical and ambient music including compositions by Johannes Brahms, Sigur Rós, and Moby, as well as original stories and public domain fiction read by narrators including LeBron James, Stephen Fry, Beatie Wolfe, Danai Gurira, Joanna Lumley, Jerome Flynn, Terry W. Virts, Clarke Peters,, ASMR content creator Emma “WhispersRed“ Smith, League of Legends voice actor Erik Braa, Peter Jefferson, Freema Agyeman, Eva Green, LeVar Burton, Laura Dern, Harry Styles and Matthew McConaughey, who began collaborating with the company in 2018. Leona Lewis contributed narration to the sleep stories in 2018, supporting ’s Global Fund to end AIDS, providing a day's worth of life- saving HIV medication to 100,000 people.

Reception

In 2020, HBO Max announced the launch of a series based on the Calm app. The series will be called A World of Calm.

Publications