ToyTalk raises $15 million, doubling lifetime total
VCs respond favourably to Pixar veterans' toys-to-life technology
ToyTalk, a startup formed by veterans of the animation company Pixar, has taken its lifetime funding to $30 million after a series B round.
According to Fortune, this new $15 million round was led led by Khosla Ventures, which will add Samir Kaul to ToyTalk's board of directors. Charles River Ventures, First Round Capital, Greylock and True Ventures all renewed their financial commitment to the company after contributing to its series A funding.
ToyTalk is built on a language processing and response technology called PullString, specifically aimed at children aged 4 to 12. In essence, it as an evolution of the toys-to-life concept - of which Skylanders and Disney Infinity are more basic examples - allowing users to hold back-and-forth conversations with physical toys via interactive mobile games and apps
Oren Jacob, ToyTalk's CEO and the former CTO of the Walt Disney Company, has said that it wants to be, "a technology company and a content company," but it will leave toy production to the experts. For example, ToyTalk recently signed a deal with Sesame Street, opening up its technology to a broad range of famous characters.
In part, the new funding will be used to build similar relationships with other companies, as well as growing its engineering team and ramping up development on new apps and games.