How a Fitness Tech Founder Is Now Taking On Board Games

Brynn Putnam, the entrepreneur behind Mirror — a connected fitness startup that sold to Lululemon for $500 million in 2020 — has started a new company called Board. The startup has raised $20 million in Series A funding and has already sold thousands of its gaming consoles. Board's product sits somewhere between a traditional board game and a video game: a physical console that combines tabletop play with digital elements on a screen.

The company recently showed off its product at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Union Square Ventures, a well-known venture capital firm, is backing the company.

From Ballet to Connected Fitness, Now to Gaming

Putnam's journey is unusual. She was a professional ballerina before transitioning to technology. She studied at Harvard University from 2001 to 2005, then founded Mirror, which became one of the big success stories in connected fitness hardware — the category of smart mirrors and workout equipment that boomed during the pandemic.

With Board, Putnam is making a similar move but in a different direction: instead of bringing fitness into the home, she is targeting family game nights with technology-enhanced board games. Mirror let you work out by following a streaming instructor on a reflective screen. Board combines physical game pieces on a table with a digital console that manages scoring, changes rules on the fly, and displays content that regular cardboard games cannot offer.

What Board Actually Is

Board operates in an emerging segment that sits between traditional board games and video games. The idea is to keep the social benefits of sitting around a table — face-to-face interaction, tangible pieces to move — while adding computer power that would be impossible with only cardboard and dice.

Several companies have tried this before. Some early experiments used RFID tags (radio frequency identification, a technology that lets objects communicate wirelessly) embedded in game pieces. Others have explored augmented reality overlays, where digital graphics appear on top of the physical world through a phone or headset. Board's approach centers on a console that acts as a hub, coordinating between the physical pieces you hold and digital content shown on connected screens.

The appeal is straightforward: younger players increasingly expect interactive, responsive entertainment. A traditional board game can feel slow and static by comparison. But pure digital gaming can feel isolating — no one is sitting across the table from you. Board tries to split the difference.

Sales and Investor Support

The $20 million funding round signals that Board has moved past the prototype stage. The company reports selling thousands of consoles, which is real traction for a startup targeting families willing to spend premium prices on gaming hardware.

Union Square Ventures brings experience in consumer technology and platform growth to the table. The firm has backed other companies that have successfully scaled consumer hardware and entertainment platforms, expertise that Board may benefit from as it grows beyond early enthusiasts.

To put the sales figure in perspective: thousands of units is modest compared to major gaming consoles, which ship in millions. But premium board game hardware typically sells slower than mass-market gaming devices. Early sales in the thousands represent a more significant signal of genuine demand.

A Pattern Worth Recognizing

This strategy — finding ways to blend physical and digital — has worked before. Nintendo's Wii, released in 2006, succeeded partly because motion controls felt novel and opened gaming to people who had never used a traditional controller. Board is betting on something similar: that families want shared entertainment that avoids the isolating feel of solo digital play, but also want the responsiveness and interactivity that static board games cannot deliver.

Mirror itself was part of a broader pattern. Connected fitness proved that consumers would pay premium prices for hardware that enhances rather than replaces physical activity. Board applies the same logic to entertainment. If it succeeds, we may see other hardware makers and game publishers explore this space between purely physical and purely digital play.

The Hard Part: Building Content and Scaling

Board faces a real challenge: creating games that work well for its platform. Traditional board game publishers often lack expertise in digital integration. Video game developers, meanwhile, may struggle to design for the constraints of physical components. Board needs both kinds of companies to build a strong library of experiences.

There is also the manufacturing and distribution side to consider. Unlike software games, which can be updated instantly and distributed digitally, Board is a hardware company. It has to manage production, shipping, and retail while keeping costs in line with its premium positioning. History shows that hardware success requires more than just a clever idea — it demands sustained content development and strong operational execution.

The broader context here is that the gaming console market has rarely rewarded companies that innovate on hardware alone. The companies that have lasted — Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft — succeeded by pairing distinctive hardware with a steady stream of compelling games and by managing their platforms carefully over years, not months.

For Putnam, the $20 million gives Board runway to hit those milestones: scaling production, releasing strong games, and building partnerships with developers. If Board succeeds, it would establish Putnam as someone with an eye for underserved gaps at the intersection of physical and digital experiences — first in fitness, now in family entertainment.