GGV leads $19m round for China AR toy maker
GGV Capital has led a RMB120 million ($19 million) round of funding for Neobear, a China-based company that develops interactive learning tools for children.
US-based Qualcomm, China's ZTE VC, Sinolink Securities, Haitong Kaiyuan Capital and Shanghai Liuhe Venture Capital also participated.
Neobear is a brand operated under Shanghai Young Zone Culture, which was established in 2009. The company rose to prominence with the launch of its learning flashcards series Pocket Zoo earlier this year. It uses augmented reality (AR) technology to help kids recognize animal names in Chinese and English.
As of the first three months of this year, the company had sold over 1.5 million sets of flashcards, generating more than RMB100 million in revenue.
Neobear is currently marketing two new products - 3D transportation flashcards and intelligent hardware Magnifier NEO. The latter is an AR-enabled magnifier that allows kids to explore objects in 3D.
The new capital will be used for technology and content development, as well as market expansion. Apart from AR products, Neobear plans to invest RMB100 million to produce cartoon movies over the next two years, with a view to targeting a broader share of the animation and toy industry value chain, Neo Hsiung, founder and CEO of the company, told 36Kr.
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