Munich-based mindful entertainment startup BiMA raises €500k to launch screen-free projector for children

BiMA, a Munich-based startup developing a mindful entertainment platform for children, has raised €500k in pre-seed funding to launch its first product, a child-friendly, screen-free projector that transforms bedrooms into immersive, story-driven worlds.

The round was led by Antler, the world’s most active early-stage investor, with participation from several prominent angel investors, including the Oetinger Publishing Group, represented by Managing Directors Julia Bielenberg, Thilo Schmid and Christian Graef, who were among the first backers of the children’s audio platform Tonies. Additional investors include Andreas Peters, former Managing Director of Disney; Felix van de Sande, founder of Kickbase and design agency COBE; and Silvia Sommer, an e-commerce expert formerly at Birkenstock and Roland Berger, and organiser of the Fast & Curious events in Munich for Verena Pausder.

Founded in 2024 by Larissa Ruf (CEO) and Greta Garkisch (CTO), BiMA aims to redefine how families experience play and storytelling by offering screen-free entertainment that sparks imagination and strengthens family bonds. Positioned at the intersection of edutainment, wellbeing and consumer technology, BiMA represents a new approach to family-friendly innovation.

The funding will support BiMA’s market entry, including production, marketing and content development, as well as team expansion. The company plans to release an initial batch of 1,500 projectors later this year.

In Germany alone, there are 3.5 million households with children aged 0–5, representing a potential market of more than €730 million. Across Europe, this figure rises to 17 million households and an addressable market of around €3.7 billion. Globally, BiMA estimates over 420 million households in this segment, creating a potential market worth more than €88 billion.

Larissa Ruf, co-founder and CEO of BiMA, said: “Most toys are designed to keep kids busy, and that’s perfectly fine. But we wanted to create something different: a product that brings families together at the most meaningful time of day. With BiMA, evenings become magical moments of connection and imagination.”

Julia Bielenberg, Managing Director at Oetinger Publishing Group, commented: “We see BiMA as a natural continuation of our tradition of storytelling innovation. Just as Tonies created a new way for families to experience stories, BiMA has the potential to redefine the way children interact with imagination, creativity, and calm.”

Ruf and Garkisch, both from Munich, met over six years ago through Academy Consult Munich, one of Germany’s leading student consultancies. They later founded their own consultancy before launching BiMA, combining backgrounds in education, technology and design with experience from Schleich, Siemens AI Lab, Microsoft, Accenture and other global companies.

Christoph Klink, Partner at Antler, said: “Larissa and Greta combine real passion with deep commercial and domain expertise. They are building a product that will directly improve bedtimes and learning for children and families in Germany and across Europe. We are delighted to have backed BiMA from inception and have every confidence in their future growth.”

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