Pok Pok, the revolutionary children’s app that has made waves with its play-based learning experiences, is about to excite many more families. Pok Pok, well-known for its award-winning presence in the iOS community, is now extending to Android, bringing its distinctive “digital toys” to a larger audience, owing to recent funding success.
What Makes Pok Pok Special?
The primary app, Pok Pok Playroom, features 17 engaging play activities designed to inspire preschoolers’ creativity. Unlike typical games, these “digital toys” encourage kids to explore and learn through interactive play. Pok Pok offers a diverse and interesting play environment, including sketching tools, shape interactions, dress-up, and dinosaur toys.
From Idea to Reality
The journey of Pok Pok began within Snowman, the studio behind popular iOS games like Alto’s Adventure. Mathijs Demaeght and Esther Huybreghts, both key players at Pok Pok, were searching for a playful, non-gamified app for their son, James. Their quest led to the creation of a prototype that impressed Snowman co-founder Ryan Cash. With the addition of Melissa Cash, who has extensive experience developing products for young children at Disney, the Pok Pok team was complete.
Rapid Growth and New Funding
Since its launch in May 2021, Pok Pok has expanded its learning experiences, raised a $3 million seed investment, and reached important revenue milestones. In the last year alone, the startup’s revenue has grown fivefold and its subscriber base has increased ninefold. With over a million downloads, Pok Pok’s success has piqued the interest of investors, resulting in a $6 million Series A round led by Nico Wittenborn of Adjacent, with participation from Konvoy Ventures, Metalab Ventures, Banana Capital, and angel investors such as Instacart’s Brandon Leonardo.
Commitment to Diversity
Despite their success, the Pok Pok team was concerned about the lack of women on their cap table. Determined to address this, they set aside funds to bring in female investors, leading to a second close of the Series A round. This effort was more challenging and time-consuming, highlighting the broader issue of women’s underrepresentation in venture capital.
Julie McGill, Pok Pok’s fractional CFO, was particularly inspired by the task. She established the Julie Change Fund to encourage women investors at the Series A and beyond, with Pok Pok serving as the fund’s inaugural investment. McGill stressed her dedication to removing barriers for women in venture capital.
What’s Next for Pok Pok?
With the new funding, Pok Pok plans to expand its offerings to include more STEM-based activities, responding to parents’ requests for more traditional learning experiences. The app will continue to cater primarily to preschoolers, while also designing for younger and older users.
The company is also addressing the high demand for an Android version. Melissa Cash noted that many families prefer Android tablets due to their affordability, and Pok Pok is eager to meet this need. The Android version is expected to launch later this fall, with thousands of eager users already on the waitlist.
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