How VR Company TRIPP Simulates Psychedelic Euphoria to Address Depression and Anxiety

Keerthi Vedantam

Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.

TRIPP

By the time Nanea Reeves was 16, she had seen the disastrous effects of substance abuse on her mother and sister, and had spent time recovering at a psychiatric hospital where a therapist introduced her to meditation and breathing techniques that helped her cope with the chaos that surrounded her.


"It was a tool that really gave me space to insert pauses when I was having these big feelings, and start to train my brain on the decisions I was making at any given moment," she said.

Since then, both Reeves' mother and sister passed away from drug abuse. A new tragedy, the loss of her husband to cancer, spurred her next venture, aimed at spreading the coping techniques she'd been taught.

In 2018, she co-launched TRIPP, a virtual-reality meditation experience that mimics aspects of psychedelics to help people cope with chaos or destruction in their lives. The company announced on Friday it raised $11 million led by Mayfield and life science VC firm Vine Ventures, bringing its total funding to $15 million.

Its technology guides users through a breathing meditation that lasts anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes while their eyeline is littered with neon-colored shapes, pulsating flowers, blurred, slow-motion movements and other abstract, kaleidoscopic visualizations. The experience is meant to mimic what one might see while hallucinating on psychedelics without having to actually take psychedelics. Users can customize their own visuals through a program called TRIPP Composer.

The company did research on soundscapes and gameplay mechanics to bring users a sense of euphoria and calm throughout the meditation.

"What could you experience in VR that you can't in real life? A sense of feeling like you're floating in space, and moving through environments while you're sitting still in reality," Reeves said. "We wanted to trigger states of awe and wonder."

The psychedelic visual leans into what longtime Johns Hopkins psychedelics researcher Matthew Johnson called "the mystical experience" - the part of consuming psychedelics that isn't rooted in secular sciences, but rather in individual feelings.

TRIPP is one of many VR apps available on Playstation VR and Oculus (she was an early investor of Oculus herself) that facilitates meditation. Subscriptions go for $4.99 a month; the company has streamed more than 2 million wellness sessions to date.

But it's not the only one using gaming technology to trigger a biological response. Last year, Boston-based video game company Akili Interactive developed the first Food and Drug Administration-approved video game to treat ADHD, an executive function disorder, in children. Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is using VR for physical therapy, since it has the ability to connect the brain with its ambulatory functions. L.A.-based AppliedVR recently teamed up with the Department of Veterans Affairs to combat chronic pain among veterans.

TRIPP, like Santa Monica-based Headspace, another wellness app, is also undergoing clinical trials to test its efficacy as a therapeutic device. And, as the larger industry of psychedelic therapies grows, TRIPP plans on leveraging its platform to integrate with therapy trips.

"We're not trying to replicate or simulate, but there are certain inherent properties that can trigger awe or self-connection. It's not aggressive or taking you over completely like a psychedelic," Reeves said.

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LA Tech Week 2024: Saturday-Sunday Event Lineup
tech-week

Here’s what’s happening during the closing weekend (Oct 19 - Oct 20) of LA Tech Week 2024! Events are organized by location so you can easily catch the sessions that interest you most.

SATURDAY EVENTS

BEVERLY HILLS

12:00 PM

  • BIG Showcase (Invite Only):

BIG Showcase (Invite Only)

2:00 PM

Light Dao

Struck Capital, Seahorse Express

EAGLE ROCK

12:00 PM

Sunrise Integration, Shopify

EL SEGUNDO

9:00 PM

Administratum, Valar Atomics

HOLLYWOOD

10:00 AM

Passes

MALIBU

6:00 PM

  • Malibu Beachfront Investors Networking & Wine Tasting:See Details

Gaya Ventures

MARINA DEL RAY

6:00 PM

  • Awaken Your Spirit: A Journey of Transformation (Invite Only)

Sagos Distro, Alma Wellness

SANTA MONICA

7:00 AM

Founders Running Club

8:30 AM

Techstars

9:00 AM

Magic Mind

StartupStarter, Inc., City of Santa Monica

10:00 AM

Gen She

AI LA

Crea, Barry's, Unsubscribe

10:30 AM

Plantologist

11:30 AM

  • Pickleball Palooza (Invite Only)

YouTube

1:00 PM

  • Realfren Games: From strangers to an inner Realfren within 52 weekends: See Details

Office for Humanity and Circuit Works

  • Talking blockchain technology with special guests: See Details

LadyDayDao

5:00 PM

KARD, What's Plots

THE VALLEY

7:00 AM

Camino5

VENICE

9:00 AM

Westside Yogis

11:00 AM

Open App

1:00 PM

Ripe and Teddy's Hot House

4:00 PM

  • Fashion Forward: How AI is Redefining the Fashion Industry: See Details

VIAVIA, BNTO.RENT, ALMA.AI

VIRTUAL

11:00 AM

BLCK UNICRN

WEST HOLLYWOOD

7:00 PM

Next Sequence

SUNDAY EVENTS

INGLEWOOD

12:00 PM

Entrepreneur Ventures, VCPE GROUPS

PLAYA DEL RAY

2:00 PM

AI LA, DELL, NVIDIA

SANTA MONICA

10:00 AM

  • Women Founders, Cold Brew & Beach View, Rooftop: See Details

Clutch Talent

11:00 AM

11DollarSunglasses.com, Less Litter Foundation

12:00 PM

Data in LA, Amplitude

12:30 AM

New Moon, Warner UK Innovations

TOPANGA CANYON

3:00 PM

Dreamore

VENICE

8:00 AM

  • Surf session with founders, investors, creators: See Details

Surfed Club, Bow Shock

12:00 PM

  • Podcast Panel and Brunch: LA Tech Community Builders: See Details

WeAreLATech.com, Blankspaces.com

VIRTUAL

2:00 PM

BLCK UNICRN


For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

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LA Tech Week 2024: Friday’s Event Lineup
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Check out Friday, October 18th's schedule for LA Tech Week 2024! Events are sorted by location so you can easily find what matches your goals for the day.

BEVERLY HILLS

8:00 AM

Scrappy

BRENTWOOD

7:30 AM

Seaside Ventures

CULVER CITY

9:00 AM

Intersections LA

1:30 PM

  • Showcasing Bioscience Innovation in LA County (Invite Only)

BioscienceLA, County o LA, Larta Institute, LAEDC

5:00 PM

Grid110

6:00 PM

ACT House, Sip & Sonder

EL SEGUNDO

7:00 PM

Dirac, Inc.

INGLEWOOD

10:00 AM

Zoo Corporation, Embedded Ventures

12:00 PM

  • Tech & The Built Environment Series: LA28 Roundtable & SoFi Stadium Tour: See Details Here

Blended Impact

MARINA DEL REY

9:00 AM

USC ISI

PACIFIC PALISADES

4:00 PM

Silicon Valley Bank, Emmeline Ventures

PLAYA DEL REY

8:00 AM

AI LA

5:30 PM

AI LA

PLAYA VISTA

12:00 PM

  • Women In Gaming Lunch at Google (Invite Only)

Google

4:00 PM

Verizon, Infinity Festival

SANTA MONICA

11:00 AM

SVRN Ventures

Headline, Slow Ventures, Karat

2:00 PM

Glyf

Botanical, Panoptic

The American South Asian Network (ASAN)

4:00 PM

  • Pizza, Wine, & Connectivity: Celebrating the Nomadic App Revolution:See Details Here

Synadia

The American South Asian Network (ASAN)

Dory Consulting

  • Women in Tech: Beachfront Rooftop at Sunset - Wine-up & Unwind: See Details Here

Clutch Talent

Cohere Commerce

5:00 PM

Clutch Talent

Pirros

6:00 PM

  • Unlocking Capital with Angels & Advisors | No Pressure Networking + Panel:See Details Here

No Pressure Networking

Tech Pitch Roast Comedy LLC

6:15 PM

  • Navigating Intersections: Empowering Leaders in Challenging Times: See Details Here

Intersectional Ventures

7:00 PM

Mantis VC, Lightspeed Venture Partners

Medusa Ai, Marco Di Luca Event Design

SOUTH LA

9:00 AM

USC Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Cap Table Coalition, PledgeLA, Sisters with Ventures

UCLA

1:30 PM

CrownData.AI

2:00 PM

Taisu Ventures, Quotient Ventures

VENICE

7:30 AM

Run Tech Club

9:00 AM

Google

12:00 PM

Ripe and Teddy's Hot House

5:30 PM

Spire Circles

7:00 PM

Moss Venice, Yuzulabs, JPMorgan Chase

8:00 PM

Truffle

VIRTUAL

2:00 PM

BLCK UNICRN

WEST HOLLYWOOD

7:30 PM

Legendary Ventures, Day Dream Ventures

WESTSIDE

9:30 AM

A16Z GAMES

7:00 PM

  • Female Funders & Founders (Invite Only)

L'ATTITUDE Ventures

WESTWOOD

9:00 AM

Fedtech, National Security Innovation Network (NSIN)


For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

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LA Tech Week 2024: Thursday’s Event Lineup
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Here’s what’s in store for Thursday, October 17th at LA Tech Week 2024! Check out the events by location below to find sessions that align with your interests and goals for an inspiring day in LA’s tech scene.

BEL AIR

5:00 PM

Andrew Yeung, Blindspot

8:00 PM

Andrew Yeung, Blindspot

BEVERLY HILLS

8:00 AM

Scrappy

2:00 PM

WE Global Studios

6:00 PM

  • Breaking Barriers: Women Leading the Future of Tech Innovation :See Details Here

Her Workplace

BRENTWOOD

4:00 PM

Slyngshot, Singleton Foundation, East West Projects

6:00 PM

Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs of Southern California

CULVER CITY

9:00 AM

Intersections LA

9:30 AM

Tediophobes

5:30 PM

Curbivore

DOWNTOWN

10:00 AM

USC Marshall Grief Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

5:00 PM

Toonstar, Loyola Marymount University

EL SEGUNDO

3:00 PM

DTI

5:00 PM

Sift

5:30 PM

Shield Capital

6:00 PM

Sigma Computing, Prodege

HiveWatch

HAWTHORNE

6:30 PM

Astrolab

INGLEWOOD

11:00 AM

Sonder Impact, Sip & Sonder

6:00 PM

Sonder Impact, Sip & Sonder, ACT House

LONG BEACH

6:30 PM

Skuttlebot, Maintenance Bay 54

MALIBU

6:30 PM

Reitler, Carta

MARINA DEL REY

3:00 PM

USC, Information Sciences Institute

5:00 PM

USC, ISI

PALMS

6:00 PM

The Law Firm of Shivani Honwad, Women in LAVA

PLAYA DEL REY

8:00 AM

AI LA

PLAYA VISTA

5:00 PM

Stash, Google

6:00 PM

AI copilot

Tech Me Out, Global Objects, Verizon Innovation Lab

SANTA MONICA

8:00 AM

Human To Human, Superbloom Collective

8:30 AM

Upfront Ventures, Fenwick

olive, Bonfire, Headline, Fika, TipTop Ventures

9:30 AM

  • Founders & Investors - Barry’s Bootcamp with SVB (Invite Only)

Silicon Valley Bank

Clocktower Ventures, Intuit Ventures

Founders Wellth Club

10:00 AM

Pilot

  • ZK House (Invite Only)

Aleo

10:30 AM

Red Beard Ventures

12:00 PM

Inner Circle HQ

  • Tech & The Built Environment Series: Advancing Clean Energy Projects Regionally :See Details Here

Blended Impact, LAEDC

Brydge Club, Lendtech, Two to Twenty

1:00 PM

Olympian Motors

2:00 PM

  • YouTube Creator Collective Pickleball Tournament (Invite Only)

YouTube, @iJustine, @LaurDIY, @StevenHe

3:00 PM

Beaute in Tech

AppsFlyer, Mavan

  • Globalize VC Fund Launch & Startup Showcase (Invite Only)

Globalize

yess.io

3:30 PM

How Women Invest, 2045 Ventures

4:00 PM

WeAreLATech

Amplify, Wonder Ventures, Fenwick, Stifel, CDW

  • Funding the Future of Mental Health Fireside Chat + Mixer (Invite Only)

Silicon Valley Bank, Milken Institute, GreyMatter Capital

Olympian Motors

Hedra

4:30 PM

Emerging LA, Sunset Ventures, Fidelity Private Shares

5:00 PM

  • Investing in Identity: Underrepresented Founders' Consumer Brands :See Details Here

XRC Ventures, Black Women Talk Tech

Palm Drive Capital, Deel

NextGen Venture Partners

MELT

Squad.App

  • Navigating Challenges: AI Solutions for CEOs (Invite Only)

Tripsider, Ferla

LAstartups, Startup Coil, Expert Dojo

5:15 PM

So Cal Tech, WeAreLATech

5:30 PM

  • FEMTECH Innovation & Beauty: Shaping the Future of Women's Health and Wellness :See Details Here

Plantologist

StartupStarter, Hollo.AI, 1500 or Nothing

Clutch Talent

Everything Marketplaces

6:00 PM

Tech Pitch Roast Comedy LLC

Black Tech Meetup

USC Alumni Entrepreneurs Network

Ince Capital

Dreaming in Digital A.I.

  • Israeli Startup Network Meetup (Invite Only)

Fusion VC, Fenwick

  • Fanfix Tech Week (Invite Only)

Fanfix

  • The Kickback (Invite Only)

The Wealth Salons, DVRGNT Ventures, HubSpot, BLCK VC, Cooley, Fabric VC, Canadian Consulate of LA

INCE Capital

This Week In Fintech

Share Ventures, Jack Taylor PR

6:30 PM

ElevenLabs

PowerYou AI

Higgsfield AI

Legendary Ventures, Hustle Fund

7:00 PM

Emerging LA, Sunset Ventures, Fidelity Private Shares

Zeal

8:00 PM

Litquidity Ventures

VAN NUYS

8:00 AM

Pacer.co

VENICE

9:00 AM

Supply Change Capital

Arc, Humans Anonymous, Kindo

10:00 AM

Wave Digital Assets

12:00 PM

JP Morgan, Lux Capital, Camber Road, Varda

1:00 PM

The Redline Apart Hotel

2:00 PM

Everybody Ventures, TriNet

Mercato, Silicon Valley Bank

4:30 PM

West of Lincoln

5:00 PM

The Redline Venice Apart Hotel

Kyte

5:30 PM

XPRIZE, the Female Funders Club, Abundance360

6:00 PM

Graphite.dev

Brandy

AI LA

Intro, a16z

7:00 PM

Date Week, Paloma

VIRTUAL

11:00 AM

SaaSfluencer

APCO

BLCK UNICRN

1:00 PM

Untapped Ventures

Wonder

2:00 PM

Azarian Growth Agency

WEST HOLLYWOOD

4:00 PM

Cake Equity

6:30 PM

A16z

Styld

7:00 PM

Bulletpitch, Pluto LA

  • Science Fiction Meets Science Fact: Advanced Manufacturing (Invite Only)

ACME Capital, Calibrate VC, Techstars Space, Advaita Capital

WESTLAKE VILLAGE

4:00 PM

Trinet

WESTSIDE

11:00 AM

A La Mode Branding

Arizona Commerce Authority

2:00 PM

UCLA Technology Development Group, CNSI at UCLA

5:30 PM

Pryzm

  • Sunset Soirée (Invite Only)

Greycroft, Sound

6:00 PM

Graham & Walker

For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

Enjoy LA Tech Week 2024!

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