AAA Osmo plays well with corporates

Osmo plays well with corporates

US-based internet-connected toy and robot producer Osmo has raised $24m in capital from investors including toy company Mattel and educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, TechCrunch reported yesterday.

Collab+Sesame, an investment vehicle operated by children’s TV producer Sesame Workshop, Collaborative Fund and Calibrate Partners, also took part, as did Accel Partners, Upfront Ventures and K9 Ventures.

A subsequent press release revealed the round also included Shea Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of real estate developer JF Shea.

Osmo, founded in 2013 as Tangible Play, creates internet of things toys, hardware kits and robots. The company’s products combine physical puzzle pieces, board games and blocks with mobile content on an iPad, tracking a child’s progress through the tablet’s camera.

The company says its products are used in 22,000 schools across the world and sold in 50 countries. The latest cash injection will go towards developing some of its most successful games to work with the iPhone.

Osmo will also use its new relationship with Mattel and Sesame Workshop to develop new toys and content that exploit the intellectual property of the two corporates.

Accel Partners previously led a $12m funding round in 2014 that included Upfront Ventures and K9 Ventures. Osmo also raised $2.5m in 2013 from Upfront and FFL Startup Accelerator, according to deals database Crunchbase, however the claim is unsourced.

Pramod Sharma, co-founder and chief executive of Osmo, said: “When we pitch Osmo to teachers nobody asks for research. They know these are classic things that are good for kids, like playing a word game to learn about spelling.

“We bring a high level of engagement to that. Coding as well. So in some sense we do not have to prove this is educationally sound. Teachers already know.”

– This article was amended on December 14 to include the participation of Shea Ventures.

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