NYA FOUNDER SPOTLIGHT ‒ LAUREN STEIDL, INTEGRATED REALITY LABS CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Lauren Steidl, co-founder and CEO of Integrated Reality Labs, started the company in 2022 to build the first-ever game engine that powers multiplayer games in the real world. Their first game, SLAP, combines the social, multiplayer mobile aspects of Fortnite with the real-world gameplay of Pokémon Go. Lauren shares how she works with several NYA Members for each of their differing areas of expertise, why investors need to be brutally honest, and how IRL is using technology to drive real-life human connection and experiences.
How did you first meet New York Angels, and why did you choose to work with New York Angels?
I first met New York Angels in 2024, when we participated in the Mentors+Angels Accelerator program. My co-founders and I spent a lot of time with the members involved in that program, several of whom are NYA Members and have since invested in IRL.
We were drawn to New York Angels because of the angel investors with expertise in our industry. Bruce Hack and Cindy Cook had built incredible careers in gaming and consumer tech. They were leaders in their industry, and we knew we could learn a lot from them. And, of course, we were also looking for capital. We were hoping that if the stars aligned, we would receive investment that could be catalytic for IRL from people with real domain expertise who were willing to help.
What was the overall fundraising process like for IRL?
When we start a new fundraise, it usually begins with my co-founder, Ian Andolsek, and me outlining the shape of a pitch. We make sure we are hitting all the key points, draft the storyline, and put together the clearest, most compelling way of conveying it all. Once we are happy with it, we put together rough slides and take them to our advisors and existing investors to get feedback, iterate, and learn.
The next step is taking the pitch “out into the wild,” presenting to investors who don’t know anything about us, seeing where points of confusion are, and making it clearer. Once the pitch is pressure-tested and super punchy, hitting all the key points and allowing time for questions within 30 minutes, we take it to new investors we hope will join the round. We just went through this process in closing our pre-seed earlier in 2025 and opening our seed round a few weeks ago, so we refreshed all of our materials and the story.
What have you enjoyed most about working with New York Angels?
The mentorship, for sure. New York Angels Members continue to be super supportive with advice and feedback. We regularly connect with people like Bruce to talk strategy, and we work more closely with people like Michael and Sukriti. They all have different skill sets that are super valuable for different parts of the business. New York Angels is an incredibly kind, thoughtful, fun, super smart group of people. That collaboration and mentorship has definitely been the most enjoyable part.
What advice would you give other founders who are fundraising?
When fundraising, investors want to know you’re not just after money, you’re after success. Along the way you are going to find your initial assumptions were wrong. Many investors criticize founders who seem too one-dimensional because they’re focused only on getting funding and aren’t willing to take feedback.
Founders need to listen to investors. Many of them have run businesses before and have fantastic advice. They often have domain expertise relevant to where you’re trying to take your business. Listening and taking feedback makes your startup stronger and also shows that you’re coachable, which is incredibly important. You don’t have to accept every suggestion, but you should engage with the advice, think through the merits, and, if you disagree, offer your rationale. It shows you're paying attention and making good use of the time.
What advice would you give other early-stage investors?
When investors pass on a startup, they are often really nice about it, saying it’s not the right fit, but they don’t provide a lot of detail. If you can spare a few minutes to be brutally honest about why you’re not investing, it’s super beneficial. That’s what helps a startup grow.
Founders take the time to prepare a pitch and answer questions, so if you’re able to articulate your driving concerns or reasons for passing, that feedback becomes incredibly valuable. Often, we don’t get that honest feedback from those who don’t invest, and that can be one of the best learning opportunities.
What has driven IRL’s success?
That’s an easy one, our team. We’ve built an incredible team of people who care deeply about the mission and the success of the company. It shows in the quality of their work every day. It has allowed us to have funding success, make progress, report that progress to investors, and build toward our future. I definitely have to hand it to the team.
What’s something interesting about you that you’d like to share with founders or investors?
My friends know this, but not a lot of founders or investors do, my other big passion outside entrepreneurship and IRL is singing. I’ve been in a couple of bands over the years. I’ve had to take a break since starting the company because the nights get really late and it becomes a part-time job, but I hope to get back to it someday. I enjoy singing all kinds of music: jazz, pop, rock, really everything.
What motivates you as a founder?
I'm really passionate about what we're building. I think it has the potential to fundamentally change how we play and connect with people in the real world, but using technology. People love games, but in recent years, younger generations have made it clear they want technology to drive real-life human connection and experiences. That’s incredibly important, and something we’ve gotten away from. IRL is really aiming to bring that back.
