BOSTON, May 21, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Unruly Studios, a Boston-based startup empowering children ages 6+ to learn critical STEM and coding skills through active, recess-style play, announced today it has completed its $1.8 million seed round funding. Portsmouth, NH-based eCoast Angels led the seed round, with participation from new and existing investors including the Amazon Alexa Fund, AT&T, Rough Draft Ventures powered by General Catalyst, Techstars, LearnLaunch, NextFab, and other New England Angel Funds.
Unruly Studios creates the only experience in the growing category of STEM products and services to integrate physically active play and coding with their first product, Unruly Splats. Unruly Splats are super durable, programmable floor buttons that light up, make sounds, and sense stepping. Kids develop code in the custom app to program their Splats and then play active games like relay races, whack-a-mole, and dance routines on them. They can make their own rules and even create new games with an easy-to-use app based on a Scratch-inspired block programming interface. Unruly Splats are compatible with Apple iPad, Android tablets, and Chromebooks, with additional integrations coming soon.
Bryanne Leeming, CEO and Founder of Unruly Studios, said, "We are thrilled to have this incredible group of investors who share our vision about the value of STEM and active play. We are creating an electronic playground designed to revolutionize play and learning for kids. This is just the beginning for Unruly Splats and our growing Unruly community."
Since 2018, thousands of Splats have made their way into schools and homes across the country. Unruly Studios has seen a growing adoption rate in both private and public schools, with students quickly learning and mastering the block coding interface to create their own games. This round of funding will be used to grow the Unruly team and build a user community to continue to expand the Unruly Splats footprint (literally, footprints!) globally.
The Unruly Splats experience has been tested extensively with schools and parents and has garnered strong endorsements from educators. One of the first adopters, Jason Behrens of Somerville, MA Public Schools, said, "I've been in education for 12 years and have yet to come across a product like Splats. It enables kids (and adults!) to learn coding skills and encourages game design and active play. Unruly Studios brings kinesthetic learning environments to classrooms at a time when students desperately need more physical activity."
Paul Bernard, director of the Alexa Fund, said, "We were impressed by Unruly Studios during their time with the Alexa Accelerator last summer, and we're thrilled to be reinvesting here as part of their seed round. Their ability to combine STEM education with physical games is inspiring on its own, and we see voice as a way to make that experience even more fun and engaging. We can't wait to see what they build in the future."
Anne Wintroub, Director of Social Innovation at AT&T, added, "It's so exciting to see Unruly Studios experience such remarkable growth. As we think about the critically important intersection of STEM and play, the Unruly team is leading the charge in bring STEM skills-building to children of all ages."
About Unruly Studios
Unruly Studios creates products that engage kids with coding through active, recess-style play. Unruly Splats are durable floor buttons that light up, play sounds, and can be programmed by kids with a paired tablet. The Unruly Splats app comes preloaded with recess-style games to help kids continually build their coding skills on their own. The Unruly team is made up of experts in cognitive science, toy manufacturing, education, and technology with experience on teams at Scratch, the MIT Media Lab, Hasbro, Mattel, Nickelodeon, iRobot, and Disney.
To learn more about Unruly Studios or to purchase Unruly Splats, visit https://www.unrulysplats.com.
SOURCE Unruly Studios
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