What Playbl does

Playbl, Inc. is a privately held, New Haven, Connecticut-based digital health company that develops and licenses evidence-based video games for adolescent substance-use prevention, mental health promotion, and risk reduction. Founded in 2021 as a spin-out from the play2PREVENT Lab at Yale School of Medicine (with research now also housed at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine), the company commercializes a portfolio of seven branded interactive games — SmokeScreen, ReFresh, ReMind, PlaySmart, PlayForward: Elm City Stories, PlayTest, and EmpowerED — each grounded in randomized controlled trials and over 25 peer-reviewed publications. The platform is delivered as a web-mobile experience accessible to students through roster-integrated single sign-on (Google Classroom, ClassLink, OneRoster) and is positioned to meet FERPA, COPPA, and NIST SP 800-53 compliance requirements for school environments.

The company generates revenue through annual and multi-year subscription licenses of its game programs to K-12 schools, school districts, educational service centers, community coalitions, public health departments, and school-based health centers, using a quote-based pricing model that varies with student count, program selection, and implementation scope. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales to districts with channel partnerships — notably a national relationship with the School-Based Health Alliance for PlaySmart distribution, a detection-to-education integration with vape-detection vendor Zeptive, and complementary in-person reach through the Victoria's Voice Foundation. Federal validation has been secured through ESSA Tier 1 evidence designation, inclusion in the U.S. Surgeon General's youth mental health resources list, and recognition by Senator Chris Murphy.

The company is led by Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Lynn E. Fiellin (Yale Professor of Medicine and founding director of the play2PREVENT Lab, who has raised approximately $15 million of NIH and foundation research funding over 12 years) and CEO Kirby Salerno (an EdTech operator with prior Amazon K-12 experience). To date, Playbl has operated primarily on non-dilutive grant capital, anchored by the 2021 Blavatnik Fund for Innovation at Yale award (part of a $3 million, 12-recipient pool) and ongoing NIH HEAL Initiative, FDA, and SAMHSA funding, with no traditional venture capital rounds disclosed.

Name

Playbl

Legal name

Playbl, Inc.

Website

https://playbl.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Playbl licenses evidence-based video games to K-12 schools, districts, and public health agencies for adolescent substance-use prevention, mental health, and risk reduction. The portfolio — seven RCT-validated games — was spun out of Yale's play2PREVENT Lab and is sold via annual district subscriptions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Health Technology / Digital Health Games

NAICS

Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing (339930)

SIC

Games, Toys & Children's Vehicles (No Dolls & Bicycles) (3944)

akta.pro primary industry

Educational Games & Kids/Families Game Studios (MPAFAAAI)

Keywords

• Game-based health education
• Youth substance prevention
• Vaping prevention games
• Digital health interventions
• School mental health programs

Headquarters

HQ city

New Haven, CT

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. School/ District Licensing: Digital health games and programs licensed to schools, school districts, and community organizations. Programs like ReFresh, SmokeScreen, ReMind, and PlaySmart are offered as annual or multi-year licenses to educational institutions for classroom and intervention use.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Playbl develops and licenses evidence-based, interactive web-mobile digital health games and intervention programs that address youth substance misuse (vaping, opioids, THC/cannabis), mental health, and risk prevention (HIV/STI). Its portfolio of branded games and tier-2 interventions is sold on annual or multi-year subscriptions to K-12 schools, school districts, community organizations, and public health agencies.

Product overview

Playbl is a game-based health education platform providing evidence-based digital health games and intervention programs for schools and youth-facing organizations. The portfolio consists of a family of products centered on game-based behavioral health interventions targeting substance misuse, mental health, and risk prevention in adolescents. The core products are five distinct game programs: SmokeScreen (vaping/smoking prevention for middle school), ReFresh (vaping alternative-to-suspension intervention), ReMind (cannabis/THC use intervention), PlaySmart (opioid misuse prevention and mental health for high school), and PlayForward: Elm City Stories (risk reduction and HIV prevention). Additional offerings include PlayTest (STI/HIV testing advocacy), EmpowerED (school climate improvement), and dedicated Parent Edition modules for ReFresh and ReMind. All programs are grounded in research from the play2PREVENT Lab at Yale School of Medicine and Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, with backing from NIH, FDA, SAMHSA, and other federal agencies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• play2PREVENT Lab: Research lab at Yale School of Medicine (now Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine) that developed Playbl's game portfolio over 12+ years of NIH-funded research.

Products and services

• SmokeScreen Interactive web-mobile video game for middle school students (ages 11-14) delivering approximately 3 hours of gameplay across 7 real-world storylines. Students learn about vaping and tobacco risks, build decision-making skills, and practice refusing peer pressure. Targets K-12 schools and youth-serving organizations.
• ReFresh Five-module online evidence-informed vaping intervention for late middle and high school students who violate school nicotine or tobacco policies, designed as a trauma-informed alternative to suspension. Includes a Parent Edition and is intended for K-12 schools, districts, and community-based organizations.
• ReMind Tier 2 THC/cannabis use intervention for students who violate school substance-use policies, covering mental health and physical impacts of high-potency THC, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques, and an expanded circle of care. Includes a Parent Edition. Targets schools and community organizations.
• PlaySmart Evidence-based video game for high school students addressing opioid misuse prevention and mental health promotion through time-travel storylines with up to 3 hours of gameplay. Distributed in partnership with the School-Based Health Alliance (SBHA) and school-based health centers.
• PlayForward: Elm City Stories Interactive HIV prevention and risk reduction video game for younger adolescents (ages 11-14) offering approximately 16 hours of immersive, narrative-driven gameplay. Designed to strengthen future orientation, problem-solving, and positive youth development.
• PlayTest Videogame intervention for high school students (ages 14-18) promoting STI/HIV testing at school-based health centers and informed health decision-making, with approximately 6 hours of unique gameplay.
• EmpowerED Story-based digital intervention for high school students (ages 14-18) that teaches cognitive reappraisal skills to improve school climate and personal well-being. Approximately 1 hour of gameplay; can be assigned by schools or accessed directly.
• ReFresh Parent Edition Digital mini-course for parents and caregivers offering science-backed guidance on vaping, mental health, and substance misuse in short modules. Built in collaboration with medical and education experts; can be assigned by schools or accessed directly by families.
• ReMind Parent Edition Online course equipping parents and guardians with facts and tools to address the impact of cannabis use on youth, including mental health impacts of high-potency THC, physical effects, CBT-based coping skills, and guidance for the healing process. Built with medical and educational experts.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90 minutes of SmokeScreen gameplay leads to measurable improvements in students' perception of vaping risks and ability to refuse peer offers
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ZeptivecoreTechnology or IntegrationCollaboration with Zeptive, an advanced vape-detection company, to connect technology detection with education. When Zeptive's technology identifies a potential vaping incident, schools can connect students with appropriate Playbl programs like SmokeScreen, ReFresh, or ReMind, creating a complete detection-to-education response.
• Victoria's Voice FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership bringing together Playbl's evidence-based digital programs with Victoria's Voice Foundation's in-person prevention education. Victoria's Voice Save Our Kids school assemblies and VITAL SIGNS for Parents discussions complement Playbl's digital reach, creating comprehensive prevention across school, family, and community settings.
• play2PREVENT Lab at Yale School of MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership with Dr. Lynn Fiellin's play2PREVENT Lab at Yale Center for Health & Learning Games. Over 12 years and approximately $15 million in NIH/foundation funding, the lab has developed, evaluated, and disseminated Playbl's digital health games.
• Dartmouth's Geisel School of MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration has transitioned from Yale to Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine. Dartmouth researchers believe the intervention is effective enough to fund a company offering video games to schools.
• School-Based Health Alliance (SBHA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational partnership for PlaySmart program targeting opioid misuse prevention in high school students, working with school-based health centers through the SBHA network.
• Yale School of MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHome institution of founder Dr. Lynn Fiellin. Playbl is a spin-out company from the play2PREVENT Lab at Yale Center for Health & Learning Games. Dr. Fiellin is Professor of Medicine at Yale.
• Boston Medical Center - CATALYSTminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Sarah Bagley, Medical Director of the Center for Addiction Treatment for Adolescents/Young Adults who Use Substances (CATALYST) at Boston Medical Center, reviewed the ReFresh program content.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• EVERFI: EVERFI (now part of Blackbaud) sells K-12 digital courses on substance use prevention, mental health, and financial literacy to schools and districts. It competes with Playbl for the same district buyers but offers a much broader content catalog without Playbl's RCT-grade evidence tier for individual programs.
• Kahoot!: Kahoot! is a widely adopted K-12 game-based learning platform that increasingly incorporates health, SEL, and well-being content. While not a prevention specialist, its installed base and brand recognition among teachers position it as a potential platform-level substitute for parts of Playbl's offering.
• Rethink Ed: Rethink First sells EdTech platforms spanning SEL, mental health, and behavior support to K-12 districts. It competes for the same student-wellness budget and increasingly includes prevention content that could substitute for Playbl's standalone programs.

Emerging players

• Filament Games: Filament Games is a Wisconsin-based educational game studio that builds learning games for schools, museums, and health organizations. It is comparable as a peer developer of evidence-driven educational games, though it is not a direct buyer-facing competitor in the same way as prevention-curriculum vendors.
• Schell Games: Schell Games is a Pittsburgh-based game studio known for educational and transformational games, including health and behavior change titles. It shares Playbl's evidence-driven educational game development profile and is a credible adjacency for game-development talent and pipeline.

Direct peers

• PAX Good Behavior Game: PAX Good Behavior Game is an evidence-based classroom behavior program with peer-reviewed studies showing impacts on substance use and mental health later in life. It competes with Playbl for evidence-tier prevention budget and reaches the same K-12 teacher and administrator buyers.
• Botvin LifeSkills Training: Botvin LifeSkills Training is a long-standing evidence-based substance abuse prevention program widely adopted in U.S. schools, with both in-person and digital modalities. It directly competes with Playbl in middle and high school prevention curricula and has decades of research backing, making it the most comparable peer for evidence-tier positioning.
• Centervention: Centervention provides online SEL and behavioral intervention games for K-12 students, including substance use and mental health topics. It overlaps with Playbl in delivering game-based prevention content to school counselors and educators, though with a broader SEL scope.
• CATCH My Breath: CATCH My Breath is a school-based vaping prevention program from the CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) initiative, distributed to K-12 districts. It targets the same buyer and the same subject (youth vaping prevention) as Playbl's SmokeScreen and ReFresh programs.

Others

• ClickHealth / SHAPE America-affiliated prevention programs: SHAPE America and affiliated health-education providers distribute K-12 health curricula that often include substance use prevention modules, competing with Playbl for the same health-education line items on district purchase orders.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/playbl-inc1

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Playbl