What Hatsumi does

Hatsumi is a Brighton-based multidisciplinary agency founded in 2018 that develops and curates immersive experiences at the intersection of arts, health, and extended reality (XR) technology. The company's work integrates immersive art, scientific research, and healthcare methodologies into XR/VR products, with its core product being Soul Paint — a virtual reality experience that combines 3D drawing, embodied interaction, and introspection. Soul Paint, co-created by founder Sarah Ticho and Niki Smit and narrated by Rosario Dawson, lets users create expressive 3D artwork representing their emotions and embodied sensations; it has won multiple industry awards including SXSW XR Special Jury Awards and Games for Change: Best Health and Wellness. Hatsumi also curates immersive installations such as Dreamy Place's Embodied Realities and authors policy-influencing research, most notably 'The Growing Value of XR in Healthcare in the United Kingdom' (2020), which contributed to a £20m Innovate UK Mindset investment in XR and mental health innovation.

The company operates a community-led, project-based business model with three primary revenue streams: (1) consultation and design services for healthcare and innovation projects, (2) XR project development with elements of licensing and deployment to festivals and institutions, and (3) policy-facing research and publication work. Customer segments span the healthcare sector (NHS trusts, hospitals, public health providers), public health and wellbeing consumers, research and policy institutions, and the arts and culture sector. Go-to-market is direct, with project collaboration through institutional partnerships, festival exhibitions, and founder-led thought leadership; marketing relies on case studies, awards, and speaking engagements at venues including MIT, the European Space Agency, 10 Downing Street, Stanford, the United Nations, and SXSW. Pricing is not publicly disclosed.

Hatsumi is a private, founder-controlled company with 1–10 employees operating from Brighton, United Kingdom. In 2020 it spun out the XR Health Alliance as a separate advisory entity that co-advises the UKRI Mindset programme, positioning Hatsumi at the nexus of immersive XR research, clinical-grade deployment, and UK health-policy influence. Financial backing is limited to a 2018 FFWD accelerator placement with zero disclosed funding value; no institutional investors, named paying customers, or revenue figures are publicly disclosed.

Name

Hatsumi

Legal name

Hatsumi

Website

https://hatsumi.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hatsumi is a Brighton-based multidisciplinary agency developing immersive XR and VR experiences at the intersection of art, scientific research, and healthcare, serving NHS-affiliated providers, policy bodies, and cultural institutions through its flagship Soul Paint VR experience and consultation services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Immersive XR Experiences & Healthcare Design Services

NAICS

Graphic Design Services (541430)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

XR/AR/VR/MR Development Frameworks & Toolchains (MPAFAFAF)

Keywords

• Immersive VR experiences
• XR healthcare solutions
• Embodied interaction design
• Virtual reality art
• Multidisciplinary design agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Brighton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Consultation & Design Services: Supporting and consulting on development of innovation projects, products and experiences including strategies within hospitals and embedding psychological research into design and development of games and products.
2. XR Project Development: Developing immersive XR experiences such as Soul Paint, potentially licensing or deploying experiences to healthcare facilities, festivals, and institutions.
3. Research & Policy Reports: Collaborating on research reports that influence policy and funding, such as The Growing Value of XR in Healthcare report that led to £20m investment.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Hatsumi is a multidisciplinary agency that develops and curates immersive experiences at the intersection of immersive art, scientific research, and healthcare. Its core commercial output is the award-winning Soul Paint VR experience (3D drawing, embodied interaction, narrated by Rosario Dawson), supplemented by consultation and design services for healthcare and innovation projects, immersive curation such as Dreamy Place Embodied Realities, and policy-grade research including The Growing Value of XR in Healthcare report.

Product overview

Hatsumi is a multidisciplinary agency offering a portfolio of immersive experiences, research publications, and consulting services. Its core product is Soul Paint, an XR/VR experience for emotional expression and wellbeing. The company also produces research reports such as "The Growing Value of XR in Healthcare in the United Kingdom," curates immersive installations like Dreamy Place Embodied Realities, and provides consultation and design services for innovation projects in healthcare and wellbeing sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Soul Paint: Multi-award winning virtual reality experience co-created by Sarah Ticho and Niki Smit, combining 3D drawing, playful embodied interaction and introspection. Narrated by Rosario Dawson, users create expressive 3D artwork about their own emotions and embodied sensations.

Products and services

• Soul Paint Multi-award winning virtual reality experience that combines 3D drawing, playful embodied interaction and introspection, allowing users to create expressive 3D artwork about their own emotions and embodied sensations; narrated by Rosario Dawson. Licensed/deployed to festivals, healthcare settings and cultural venues.
• Consultation & Design Services Professional consulting and design services supporting the development of innovation projects, products and experiences — from strategies within hospitals to embedding psychological research into the design and development of new games and products.

Quantifiable outcome

• Led to £20m investment into XR and mental health innovation via Innovate UK's Mindset program

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• XR Health AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHatsumi's spin-out organization co-directed by Sarah Ticho. The XR Health Alliance advises on Innovate UK's £20m Mindset program for XR and mental health innovation. This is a core strategic partnership for advancing immersive technology in healthcare.
• Sarah Ticho & Niki SmitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-creators of Soul Paint VR experience, backed by behavioural scientists and researchers. This partnership combines artistic vision with scientific validation for health and wellbeing applications.
• Fiona Kilkelley and Ross O'BriencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborators on The Growing Value of XR in Healthcare report. They worked with Hatsumi to fundraise, develop, write and manage the first UK report exploring XR use in healthcare.
• XR Health UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublisher of The Growing Value of XR in Healthcare report, the first report to explore extended reality technologies including VR and AR in the UK healthcare sector, enabling government and public health services to make informed decisions.
• Dreamy PlaceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFestival where Hatsumi curated Embodied Realities exhibition, exploring human existence through immersive experiences that foster empathy and understanding.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Magic Leap: Magic Leap is an XR hardware and platform incumbent operating in enterprise and healthcare, overlapping with Hatsumi's XR-for-healthcare positioning at a much larger scale.
• Meta Reality Labs: Meta's Reality Labs is a broad incumbent that controls much of the consumer XR hardware and platform layer on which Soul Paint-type experiences are distributed, making it both a partner and a competitive risk.

Direct peers

• Baobab Studios: Baobab Studios is an Emmy-winning immersive animation and VR storytelling studio, a direct creative peer to Hatsumi in narrative XR experiences targeting emotional engagement.
• Psious: Psious is a VR platform for mental health professionals offering immersive scenarios for anxiety, phobias, and PTSD treatment, competing in the same clinical XR-for-mental-health category.
• AppliedVR: AppliedVR develops FDA-cleared VR therapeutics for chronic pain and mental health, directly overlapping with Hatsumi's XR-for-healthcare and wellbeing focus but at a much more commercialised, clinically validated scale.
• Atlas V: Atlas V is an immersive XR studio producing award-winning narrative and interactive VR experiences, including social impact titles — closely aligned with Hatsumi's art-and-empathy positioning.
• XRHealth: XRHealth runs clinician-supervised VR therapy clinics and is one of the most well-capitalised players in the VR-for-healthcare space, competing for the same NHS and institutional budgets that Hatsumi helps unlock.
• BehaVR: BehaVR builds immersive VR experiences for mental wellness, chronic pain, and behavioural health — a direct functional competitor to Soul Paint's wellbeing positioning.
• Within (VR studio): Within is an award-winning immersive VR storytelling studio producing narrative XR experiences, directly comparable to Hatsumi's Soul Paint and Embodied Realities as creative XR content.

Emerging players

• Limbic: Limbic is a digital mental health company combining AI and therapeutic tools; while not primarily XR, it competes for the same NHS mental-health innovation budget that Hatsumi helps shape.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HatsumiVR
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hatsumi-vr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hatsumi