Sandbox Takes Majority Stake in Hopster

Hopster has closed a multi-million-pound equity investment round from Sandbox & Co. and Venture Founders, with the former now holding a majority stake in the business.

An award-winning preschool educational and entertainment digital platform, Hopster plans to accelerate its strategic partnerships with global distribution companies in both the telco and pay-TV spaces while investing in its future acquisitions and original content. The funding will further be used to update its product development in order to enrich its customer experience and support its U.K. operations.

Hopster joins Sandbox’s portfolio of digital learning products and services, which includes CoolMathGames, Poptropica, Tinybop, Curious World, Family Education, Teacher Vision, Super Awesome, Fact Monster, InfoPlease and Funbrain.

Nick Walters, founder and CEO at Hopster, said: “2019 has been an important year in terms of global growth and with the investment by Sandbox we plan to continue and build on our successes. We have a long and established relationship with Sandbox who understands and supports our vision, our goals and our values as an educational, ethical and ambitious company. We have a number of exciting deals with high profile partners already in place for 2020 to announce and launch—so we are in a strong position and confident and excited for the future.”

Bhav Singh, founder and CEO of Sandbox who will take on the role of chairman at Hopster following this funding round, added: “We’ve watched Hopster grow from an idea to a market-leading service over the last few years and it was only natural that we continue to support the company to expand on this strong base and foundation as the leading digital pre-K service and welcome them to the Sandbox family of properties.”