Sphero, a US-based smart toy developer backed by media and entertainment group Walt Disney Company, has received $23.8m in funding from seven undisclosed investors, according to a regulatory filing.
Founded in 2010 and formerly known as Orbotix, Sphero produces spherical connected robot toys that can be controlled remotely through a smartphone app.
The company released a licensed toy version of BB-8, a character in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens film, in 2015 and is reportedly working on a similar tie-in for one of this summer’s forthcoming blockbusters, Spider-Man Homecoming.
Sphero had raised $80m altogether as of a $45m series E round in mid-2015 that was led by growth equity firm Mercato Partners that included a Walt Disney subsidiary and, according to TechCrunch, venture capital firm Foundry Group. It closed another $3.6m in financing in February 2016.
Shea Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of property developer JF Shea, is also an investor in Sphero, having taken part in its $15.5m series D round in 2014 together with Foundry Group and Grishin Robotics. Sphero had also participated in the Disney Accelerator, powered by Techstars, in 2014.
– Image courtesy of Sphero