Kirin Sinha (Illumix) on Creating Digital Infrastructure for Real-World Venues

AR Show with Jason McDowall

Kirin Sinha is the co-founder and CEO of Illumix, a company building the digital infrastructure for real world venues.

You may be familiar with Illumix if you’re a fan of the horror franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s, and the mobile game, Five Nights at Freddy’s AR: Special Delivery. While the game found a tremendous amount of success, the company has shifted its focus to enterprise customers and raised $18M in Series A financing in early 2023.

Prior to founding Illumix, Kirin was the founder and Executive Director of Shine for Girls, whose mission is to transform the lives of middle school girls by cultivating a passion for mathematics through a program that incorporates both math and dance.

Kirin has a BS in Theoretical Math and Computer Science from MIT as well as three Masters degrees spanning mathematics, machine learning, and business from Cambridge, The London School of Economics, and Stanford.

Kirin and her team have been on this journey for over six years now. Kirin originally joined the podcast back in early 2021. In our most recent conversation, she shares how the company’s focus has evolved to working with major venues and brands, such as theme parks or sports stadiums, to provide the digital infrastructure for guest experiences.

We go on to talk about:
- the evolution of the company as they went through the Disney Accelerator in 2021,
- how they are working with major venues and expanding consumer experiences,
- the underlying cultural and technology shifts that are helping to drive success,
- the fundraising journey,
- confidence - how to build it and how to lose it, and
- setting the right mindset to thrive during the fundraising process.

Links From The Episode

- Article: [Kirin Sinha’s Illumix AR Tech Could Be A Fashion Game Changer With New Round Of Investment](https://www.forbes.com/sites/rebeccasuhrawardi/2023/03/20/kirin-sinhas-illumix-ar-tech-could-be-a-fashion-game-changer-with-new-round-of-investment/?sh=3a2f30fd1aea) by Rebecca Suhrawardi for Forbes

- Article: [Kirin Sinha Is Leading the AR Charge With Illumix](https://foundr.com/articles/building-a-business/kirin-sinha) by Luke Ferris for Foundr

- Article: [Mark Cuban just broke one of his own investment rules]() by Eleanor Pringle for Fortune

- Video: [Mixing the Digital and Real Worlds at Disney’s Parks](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2021-12-16/mixing-the-digital-and-real-worlds-at-disney-s-parks-video) by Bloomberg Technology

- Article: [Disney Accelerator Showcases Eight Companies at 2021 Demo Day](https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-accelerator-showcases-eight-companies-at-2021-demo-day/)

- Book: [Mythos – Book 1 of 3: Stephen Fry's Greek Myths](https://amzn.to/47rvxkX) by Stephen Fry. The hardcover is excellent. Also highly recommended as an audiobook.

- Book: [The Alchemist](https://www.amazon.com/Alchemist-Paulo-Coelho/dp/0062315005/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Q2FE3UVMGHXA&keywords=the+alchemist+by+paulo+coelho&qid=1700519903&s=books&sprefix=the+alchemist+by+paulo+coelho%2Cstripbooks%2C163&sr=1-1) by Paulo Coelho

- Other handles: [Kirin](https://www.instagram.com/kirinsinha/) and [Illumix](https://www.instagram.com/illumixofficial/) on Instagram

- [Episode Transcript](https://otter.ai/u/n6nwMYUeDVj14fvVzARjz-acOnI)

You can find all of the show notes at thearshow.com. Please consider contributing to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theARshow.