Haiven

Post-pitch story

Luke and Jennifer Richey pitched Haiven, an AI safety platform built to protect kids in gaming chat — real-time sentiment analysis, predator interception, mental-health intervention, and a gamified "vibe score" to reward good behavior, all available as an SDK for indie game developers. The couple are veteran founders: they built AR company Gravity Jack back in 2009 and spun Haiven out in 2025, in partnership with the faith-focused nonprofit Jesus.net. Their ask was ambitious — $3 million at an $8.5 million pre-money valuation — and they came armed with big claims: issued patents, 150 indie developers waiting to launch, and potential reach of over 200 million players. The episode had a memorable twist, too: hosts Josh and Lisa Muccio's 12-year-old son Asher sat in as a guest judge to give the young-gamer perspective. In the end, all five investors passed. The concerns were consistent: the valuation was hard to rationalize for a pre-launch product, the willingness of gamers' parents to pay roughly $15 a month was unproven, and several panelists simply felt they lacked the gaming expertise to be the right investor. Mike Ma put it bluntly — he wanted to see the business validated before it was built. Haiven isn't starting from zero, though. PitchBook lists a $136K seed round from late 2025 with investors including Eagle Venture Fund, and Eagle's Freedom Fund II publicly announced an investment in early 2026 focused on Haiven's anti-trafficking mission. With a team of around 15 spread across several countries, the Richeys are building regardless — a classic no-deal company to watch.