Miko, a child companion robot company, has acquired a majority stake in Square Off, a robotics-based chess game platform, in a stock and cash deal.
According to its regulatory filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), the board at Miko has passed a special resolution to issue 250 Series C1 CCPS at an issue price of Rs 4,60,560.35 per share worth Rs 11.50 crore against 14,596 equity and preference shares of Square Off.
Miko’s board has also decided to invest Rs 7.60 crore in Square Off and another Rs 3.80 crore in cash consideration against the remaining shares held by the founders, the company further mentioned in the filing.
Co-founded by Bhavya Gohil and Atur Mehta in 2017, Square Off Chess is a physical chessboard which is connected to its app and enables users to play against the board or anyone from across the globe. Through its creations, the platform endeavours to build machines that feel more human than mechanical and give them an enhanced, gen-next experience. Unlike traditional toys, its robots and software are changing the way people play, learn, and explore by fusing emerging technology with the latest innovations in robotics.
Over the years, the startup also launched EdTech platform Square Off ‘Viktor, learning tool Smart Piano and interchangeable surface gaming platform Swap X. According to Crunchbase, the firm has raised $1.6 million from investors such as Kstart Capital, India Quotient and RB Capital.
Launched in January 2015 by three IIT Bombay graduates – Sneh Vaswani, Prashant Iyengar, and Chintan Raikar, Miko allows child-focused content partners and developers to port their content on the platform and make it available to families on subscription. The platform creates emotionally intelligent robots that leverage artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) to develop its flagship robot brand: Miko. It claims to ship its product in more than 140 countries.
In May this year, the Mumbai-based Miko raised INR 100 crore ($13.3 million) in debt from stride ventures. Prior to that, the company had raised $28 million in its Series B round led by IIFL AMC, Mankind Pharma family office, AROA Ventures and multiple global investors in August 2021.
