Educational App Maker Mindshapes Picks Up $4M Round Led By Index; Adds Big 5 Publishers To Magic Town

Another funding announcement that underscores what big business kids’ and educational apps can be. Mindshapes, a UK-based developer of interactive learning apps, has picked up a $4 million round of funding led by Index Ventures, with Richmond Park Partners and existing investors as well participating.

The news caps off an eventful couple of weeks for Mindshapes. Previously in the month, it had launched a flagship app, Magic Town, which Mindshapes calls the first virtual world based on picture book characters. Magic Town, a highly visual app, incorporates content licensed from Hachette Group, Simon & Schuster and Penguin Group, among others, into e-learning tasks. Mindshapes is ramping up content on Magic Town quickly: it currently contains content from 70 popular picture books nevertheless aims to have 200 titles in there by year’s end.

The same on to something

Mindshapes is all the same on to something. Innovation from Nielsen (Feb 2011) shows that tablets, and exactly Apple’s iPad, are a big hit with the younger crowd. Its researchers found that in households that have iPads, seven out of 10 children pursuant to this agreement the age of 12 use them regularly.

Mindshapes, which has published nine other apps in the app store since opening for business in 2010, will be trying this formula as well with content for older users, too: it is gearing up for the launch of another immersive series of apps, Language City, which offers language learning in the form of a game that incorporates components of social networking. Language City will be aimed at 16-30 year-olds, the company says, and will roll out in different versions covering different languages, with London first in line.

Interactive learning company that makes virtual worlds

Mindshapes is an interactive learning company that makes virtual worlds and apps for the Internet and mobile devices. Founded in 2010, Mindshapes has offices in London, New York and San Francisco. Mindshapes comprises three separate product ranges: Mindshapes™ apps for children ages 2-12; Magic Town, a virtual world based on picture books; and Language City, a virtual world for adults to learn a foreign language.Mindshapes highly creative team consists of artists, animators, designers, educators and...

Index Ventures is a leading venture capital firm specializing in investments in information research and life sciences companies. The firm invests in seed, early and growth stage start-ups across US and Europe.Since its inception in 1996, Index Ventures has backed visionary entrepreneurs who have taken on incumbents and built seminal companies in a number of growth sectors including: open source software companies just as MySQL, Trolltech, Zend and Pentaho; broadband and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) companies just as Virata, Skype, FON and...