London-based Hopster, an award-winning educational and entertainment digital platform that helps kids learn through TV shows, games, music and books, has raised an undisclosed multimillion pound from millennial learning company Sandbox & Co. and Venture Founders Ltd, an early-stage venture capital firm.
Founded in 2012, Hopster combines award-winning kids TV shows, fun and educational learning games, and classy nursery rhymes in a safe and ad-free environment and helps kids learn through the stories they love and while they play. The startup provides curriculum-based entertainment which is aligned with the UK early years foundation stage framework. It incorporates a number of early years’ curricula from around the world. Its curriculum is developed by academics in childhood education and cognitive development. Hopster’s content helps kids’ literacy, numeracy and encourages their curiosity.
Ideal for preschoolers, Hopster is trusted and used by over 800,000 families, with 500,000+ families using the service every month.
With the funding, Hopster plans to accelerate its strategic partnerships with global distribution companies in both the telco and pay-TV spaces while investing in its future acquisitions and original content. The company also plans to use towards updating its product development to enrich its customer experience.
Speaking on the development and its future plans, Nick Walters, Founder and CEO of Hopster, said,
“2019 has been an important year in terms of global growth and with the investment by Sandbox we plan to continue and build on our success. We have a long and established relationship with Sandbox who understand and support our vision, our goals and our values as educational, ethical and ambitious company. We have a number of exciting deals with high-profile partners already in place for 2020 to announce and launch, so we are in a strong position and confident and excited for the future.”
This year has been a tremendously exciting year for Hopster as it has continued expansion into new global markets and high-profile global partnerships, which include Amazon France, Oman Ooredoo, Sky New Zealand, Vodacom – South Africa and Dish and Sling in the USA. Now, with the fresh funding, the company has joined the growing Sandbox portfolio of digital learning products and services which has reached in excess of 60 million families and kids.
Commenting on the investment, Bhav Singh, Founder and CEO of Sandbox, said,
“We’ve watched Hopster grow from an idea to a market leading service over the last few years and it was only natural that we continue to support the company to expand on this strong base and foundation as the leading digital pre-K service and welcome them to the Sandbox family of properties.”
Hopster is available for free from the App Store, Google Play, Amazon Appstore and other devices and platforms. Customers can get Hopster on their phone, tablet or smart TV. It has a fun interface designed just for kids and can be used offline as well. With a single subscription, customers can let kids play and explore at home, and on the go with downloadable offline videos and games.
