10 Years for Valo Motion!
Raine Kajastila started his postdoctoral research at Aalto University in Finland in 2013, exploring how games and technology can inspire people to move. A climber for more than 15 years at the time, he said it was easy to pick climbing as his specific area of study.
“The first thing I did was build a climbing wall in a garage at the university and start building the software and hardware components around it,” Kajastila explained. “When my 2-year-old kid and a skilled adult climber were equally excited by the prototype, I knew we were onto something.”
He went on to collaborate with a local climbing gym, Boulderkeskus, developing a wall directly in the commercial setting.
Valo Motion was officially founded in August 2016 by Kajastila, Joni Vähämäki and Leo Holsti and they launched the ValoClimb attraction. Soon after, a video on social media racked up more than 250 million views, “catching the attention of leisure operators across the world.”
In just over a year, the company had shipped more than 100 ValoClimb units to 30 countries and ended 2017 with more than 30,000 gameplays per day on average.
“After ValoClimb’s success, we brought the same playful idea to trampolines,” said Kajastila, whose company debuted ValoJump in 2018. “Gamifying a trampoline isn’t something people expect, and it turned out to be a super fun workout. Also, at that point we had experience with trampoline and activity parks, so we could design it to fit that market very well.”
The original 6-player ValoArena launched in 2022, and 1,000 units were installed around the globe. It’s an unattended mixed reality playground where players use their bodies as controllers. The attraction also earned Valo Motion an IAAPA Brass Ring Award that year (ValoJump won the award in 2019).
“The best part of ValoClimb and ValoJump was the ability to play with friends and also entertain the audience,” Kajastila said. “With ValoArena, we wanted to create something where an even bigger group could play and have social, active fun together.”
The first installation was at SuperPark in Finland. Last year, they launched a 4-player version that’s smaller and able to fit into even more venues.
In 2023, Valo Motion spearheaded their ValoPark concept. “It fits 4,500-10,500 sq. ft. with a ceiling height of just 12 feet, and it runs with a crew of 1-4 people,” he said. “In a mall, it works as a modern ‘fun court,’ a place where families gather to play and celebrate, much like a food court.”
Using the concept, they opened ValoHalli that year, which is located at their headquarters in Helsinki. “It has taught us a lot about what operators need and how guests use and move between attractions. Our own park is also super useful for having groups test new games and products and give us early feedback. That’s how we can keep quality high and ship finished products that we are confident will be successful.”
This year, which marks the company’s 10th in business, has been especially busy. In May, they revealed Groundfall, which is described as the “mixed reality version of the floor is lava game.” It is available on ValoArena and as a dedicated, retrofit-friendly product for 4-10 players.
Most recently, they brought ValoBoard to market. Marisa Garris, Valo Motion’s business development manager in North America, said it’ll be shipping Q1 2027. “This is a unique attraction because it combines multiple board sports,” she said, noting that it ships with three games – Sunset Skaters, Trickpunk Snowboarding and Spinblades.
Garris added that Valo Motion’s attractions are available in more than 80 countries and 38 U.S. states. More than those numbers, she said, “We track our success as a company by how many games are played during a day.”
With more than 2,000 units at some 1,100-plus customer locations, they currently hover at about 320,000 gameplays a day.
“Our goal is to move people 1 million times a day,” Kajastila expressed. “We’re reaching that in four days now, so there’s some way to go and that’s what makes it exciting. The foundation stays the same – motivating people to move through play – just at a much bigger scale.”
Reflecting on 10 years in business, he said: “I’m proudest of the team. We started as six people and now have more than 60 people from many nationalities and the culture hasn’t changed – we’re serious about fun. Our focus has been on long-term sustainable growth. When the pandemic hit, we were still able to keep everyone on board and use the time to build a new product.
“I’m also proud of the products and how they move people around the world. What keeps us moving is seeing kids and families laughing and cheering for each other.”
Valo Motion kicked off their 10-year celebration at IAAPA Expo Europe with the trade show debut of both Groundfall and ValoBoard. You’ll be able to see them stateside in Orlando this month at IAAPA Expo booths S5487 and S5688. Expect more celebrating there!
You can also visit the company online at www.valomotion.com.