PlaySquare, a startup founded by a group of Emmy-winning children’s radio producers interested in bringing “touchable TV” to a iPad, has found a new home and partner in a efforts interjection to an investment from Curious Pictures. The NYC-based prolongation company, famous for renouned children’s programming like Disney’s “Little Einsteins,” Nick Jr.’s “Team Umizoomi,” HBO’s “A Little Curious,” as good as some-more adult-oriented films and games (including RockBand), has invested $660,000 into PlaySquare, and will account adult to an additional $1.5 million over a march of a subsequent dual years.

As a outcome of a funding, PlaySquare will immigrate to Curious’s New York offices, where their now seven-person group will be means to take advantage of a pool of knowledge, talent and infrastructure in a incomparable organization. At any given point, depending on what skill it’s operative on during a time, Curious Pictures competence have adult to 150 people it calls on to assistance design, arise and furnish a programs.

Startups in a kids’ apps space are mostly anticipating homes within incomparable companies these days, or chartering calm with bigger-name kids brands to drawn in their audience. For example, obvious kids’ app builder Toca Boca actually operates as a startup within a 200-year-old Swedish edition company Bonnier, and is now growing through acquisitions. Meanwhile, another kids app firm, Callaway Digital, teamed adult with Hasbro late final year, and FingerPrint, founded by a former LeapFrog exec, partnered with UK’s MindShapes and also licensed calm from third-party brands like VeggieTales.

Like many, PlaySquare is also betting on a energy of a built-in assembly to assistance it benefit traction. In this startup’s case, it has a rights to use a resources from the three-time Emmy-award-winning PBS TV show WordWorld, that it has been transforming into interactive, “touchable” television, enchanting children not usually with stories to watch passively, though also with “in-TV” activities that swell a story. This is some-more than an interactive storybook and it’s opposite from a child’s diversion with an concomitant narrative. It’s truly interactive radio – something children’s TV producers have prolonged sought after, though that hasn’t unequivocally been probable until a iPad.

CEO Alex Kay, who founded WordWorld behind in a day, explains that longer-term a association would adore to get into some-more strange calm like aspirant Kidaptive is doing. But he thinks that going after those who already know about WordWorld is a improved approach to start.

“The business indication is unequivocally tough in this app world,” he says. “It’s formidable to arise above a fray.”

And yet, even with a brand-name approval of an award-winning PBS show, it’s still tough to contest with hundreds of thousands of apps in a iTunes App Store. Today, PlaySquare has tighten to 100,000 downloads – that in a grand intrigue of things is small. Though it’s important that PlaySquare has warranted those eyeballs notwithstanding not carrying finished any graduation for a app, it still has a approach to go.

That being said, children are rarely intent with PlaySquare content, and have spent over 13 million mins in a app given its launch final summer, averaging some-more than 5 mins per session, and returning to play over and over again.

And with a new resources during a ordering around Curious’s investment, PlaySquare has a possibility to grow. It skeleton to recover dual some-more episodes of WordWorld this tumble ($2.99 any around in-app purchase) and has sealed adult a second, still undisclosed skill that will go into prolongation this fall.

Though Curious has relations with folks like Disney and Nickelodeon, for example, Kay explains that PlaySquare won’t be gratified to usually operative with those who have engaged with Curious – it’s going after a possess deals, as is a box with a new, unnamed addition. Longer-term, he feels that PlaySquare can spin a good partner for bigger TV brands that pull out hundreds of episodes of normal programming.

“Most of these – Nick, Disney and PBS – are focused on removing radio calm out, rather than chartering these other income streams and formulating a whole second prolongation studio for these apps,” says Kay. “We’d like to be a studio that helps them get this things to market,” he adds. “If they’re producing a hundred episodes, we can take 10 episodes and spin that into substantial television.”

PlaySquare, a personal favorite in a home we competence add, is a giveaway download here in a App Store.

• PLAYSQUARE

PlaySquare™ is Touchable Television™ – a totally new iPad knowledge for children where they spin partial of a storyworld with a hold of a finger!

PlaySquare was shaped by a group of Emmy endowment winning children’s media and record veterans who have total their efforts to arise a subsequent era of children’s media: “touchable television”. Touchable radio seamlessly combines existent radio episodes with interactive calm to concede a child to step into and attend in a story-world of a television…

→ Learn more