Yoto, the new streaming device for children put together by some of the UK’s leading digital music pioneers, launches this week with a powerful content line-up with three of the biggest names in children’s stories – Roald Dahl, Judith Kerr and Enid Blyton.
The first production run of the British-designed “clever speaker” is being assembled in Sheffield for delivery to subscribers to Yoto’s sell-out Kickstarter fundraising round. Yoto is designed to counter the weakness of current streaming services for pre-school and early year primary school age children – often the children cannot yet read or write and so struggle to select the content they want and this always involves screentime. While voice-activated speakers partially address the problem, they have raised serious concerns about privacy.
Yoto’s response is a device with no screen or microphone – instead children choose the stories music and learning they want by inserting colourful cards in a slot. These cards include smart chips which connect to Yoto’s streaming servers.
Yoto CEO and co-founder is Ben Drury, formerly CEO and co-founder of pioneering UK digital music company 7digital. He said, “Most streaming services are created by adults for adults, and it shows. They are essentially databases which you access via text queries, a song title or artist, for instance. This doesn’t work for children.
(Reuters) - Sonos Inc, a maker of hi-tech wireless speakers, filed for an initial public offering on Friday, riding on the back of increasing popularity of streaming music through smartphone apps on connected audio systems.
Backed by KKR Stream Holdings LLC, Sonos has grown to become a big player in the competitive home audio market, battling established players such as Bang & Olufsen, Bose and Sony as well as iPhone maker Apple.
Founded in 2002, Sonos recently introduced voice-controlled speakers integrated with Amazon’s Alexa technology, putting them in direct competition with Apple’s HomePod speakers, which are powered by Siri.
A rapid growth in streaming music services in recent years has led to a recovery in the fortunes of the global recorded music industry and boosted demand for internet-connected speakers.
The company set a placeholder amount of $100 million to indicate the size of the IPO. It is targeting a valuation of about $2.5 billion to $3 billion according to some reports.For 2017, it reported revenue of nearly $1 billion, up 10 percent from a year earlier. Net loss shrank to $14.22 million from $38.21 million in 2016. The Santa Barbara, California-based company said it intends to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “SONO.”
Since 2010, VidCon has become the world's biggest convention for online video. More than 30,000 visitors recently visited the Anaheim Convention Center in California to learn more about the latest developments, trends and influencers. In 2017, VidCon successfully expanded to Europe and Australia.
Before the second VidCon Europe will take place in Amsterdam in March 2018, the organizers count on Stagelink as their strategic marketing partner to increase awareness and further establish the convention:
“VidCon is about celebrating, connecting and democratizing the creativity economy - we are excited to partner with Stagelink and know they will amplify this message with German efficiency and help us grow VidCon in Europe and beyond.”, Jim Louderback, CEO VidCon.
Yoto – the clever speaker for kids – has agreed a strategic content partnership with the Roald Dahl Literary Estate. Roald Dahl is the world’s number one storyteller and the author of globally quintessential children’s stories including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG and many more.
Luke Kelly, MD of the Roald Dahl Literary Estate and Roald Dahl’s grandson, says “We share Yoto’s vision that all children deserve stories – and that technology, used in the right way, can unlock imaginations and help children to grow. Yoto is a visionary platform and we are excited to use Roald Dahl’s timeless stories to enrich their offer.”
FT 1000: Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies
The FT1000 lists the 1,000 companies in Europe that have achieved the highest percentage growth in revenues between 2012 and 2015. Pimoroni was placed at #257 overall and #48 in the UK!
Fan-powered event crowdsourcing platform Stagelink.com expands to the U.S. after concluding a seven-digit total seed financing including an extension. With Stagelink content creators of all kinds uncover fan demand for potential live appearances to produce successful, risk-free events and tours.!"
Stagelink finalized seed extension, securing a seven-digit total investment, after closing initial seed round in July 2016
Expansion to the United States of America (U.S.) is an important step towards Stagelink's international growth
First U.S. office is located in Santa Monica, California
Pimoroni placed at #425 in the overall list and #30 in Manufacturing / #50 in the UK. http://www.inc.com/profile/pimoroni
With the conclusion of the last round of financing in June, Florian Fehr takes over as Chief Operations Officer of Stagelink. The operations specialist who recently ran the internationalization for Danish social media marketing company Falcon Social, will continue to enforce Stagelink's expansion. Both, the entry into new markets, as well as a diversification of the existing portfolio, are next important milestones.
To meet the respective requirements, the staff recently grew from 7 to 17 employees. Tickets in the amount of $1,000,000 were sold in the last 12 months. The company's revenue grew by 700% in this period.
"The focus on shows and tours with social media creators caused a massive boost for Stagelink. Fans want to meet and experience their favorite YouTube stars live - and this is exactly what Stagelink enables them to do," says CEO Nikolas Schriefer.
