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Today, Boulder-based Orbotix announced a $15.5 million round so that it can grow a whole lot bigger, CEO Paul Berberian said. The connected toys company is most well known for its smartphone-controlled robotic ball Sphero.
First on the team’s to-do list is the launch of its new product, Ollie, this fall. Ollie, a two-wheeled tube-shaped robot also controlled by smartphones, was first introduced at CES in January.
“The Colorado team is 100 percent focused on designing the new hardware and writing the software for both Sphero and Ollie,” Berberian said. “In the world of connected play - it is all about the fusion of hardware and software. We’re all about that experience.”
Ollie, along with the 35 games and 30 accessories Orbotix plans to have on the market by year's end, will help keep Orbotix at the forefront of the connected play industry.
“We’re hitting the play experience that used to be dominated by toys,” Berberian said. “Physical toy sales are flat or down because kids are moving to digital devices. We are going after melding the two worlds of play into one amazing experience. We imagine a future where all toys are designed to be connected to digital devices.”
This future is quickly becoming a reality thanks to the passionate community backing four-year-old Orbotix. The most recent $15.5 million round was led by Shea Ventures, Grishin Robotics and Foundry Group, a long-time supporter.
“Connected play is a new category that I’m completely obsessed about,” Brad Feld of Foundry Group wrote in a blog post today. “When the iPhone and iTouch came out, there was an incredible shift to mobile devices for games. Suddenly, the toy that kids were playing with was a virtual one – something that was occurring on a sheet of glass they held in their hands.”
Because of local support like Feld's, Orbotix has always seen itself as a perfect fit in the Boulder tech community - even back when it was just beginning in the 2010 Techstars Boulder program.
“Techstars and Foundry Group have been absolutely crucial to our success: Techstars for believing in us from the very beginning and Foundry Group for giving us the fuel and support to grow our business into the leading connected play company,” Berberian said. “We’re building a company that is all about fun and tech. Boulder is the perfect place - you have to have fun if you are going to be building amazing toys and products."
