Ubooly combines a cuddly plush toy with an iPhone or iPod touch that runs companion apps to create an interactive play experience. The product shipped the week before the article and was developed by Colorado-based Carly Gloge and Isaac Squires, founders of design agency Warb. The company ran a successful Kickstarter (passing a $25,000 goal) to fund an initial production run and later participated in TechStars Boulder 2012. Ubooly updates its content every two weeks, has hired contract writers, and is improving voice recognition and a new play mode that works without the physical toy. The team is addressing form-factor issues (iPhone 5 compatibility) by shipping units with deeper pockets and says it may support newer iOS versions and Android devices in the future. The roadmap includes building an ecosystem of apps (including a GPS-tracking virtual tour guide) to expand use cases for the toy.

Total raised

$2M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Sep 2012