Hullabalu, Inc. is a New York City-based startup in the children's media space. The company was founded by Suzanne Xie in early 2012,[1] focused on building the next generation of interactive storytelling apps on mobile devices. The company released its first story book to the Apple iTunes store, titled "Pan: The Fearless Beribolt" for iPad on June 6, 2013.[2] The company will be releasing its next installment introducing a new character in the summer of 2013. In 2017 the company launched the platform Lightwell, an app-creation engine.[3]

Overview

Pandora, or "Pan" for short, is the lead female heroine in the form of a purple panda. The first installment follows Pan through her adventures in exploring the world of Hullabalu, and allows children to interact and direct the story at their own pace. With iPad usage among children growing faster than ever, there is even greater demand for high-quality, intelligent and engaging entertainment designed just for them. Hullabalu's Pan series is native to the iPad, requiring input from the reader. Every moment in the story advances only when directed, making each reader an integral part of the plot. Text appears with narration, setting the stage for early reading success and helping kids expand their vocabulary and imagination.

Hullabalu's $1.8M seed round is led by a list of top-tier angels and funds including SV Angel; Rothenberg Ventures; Liberty City Ventures; Great Oaks Venture Capital; Alexis Ohanian, Cofounder of Reddit; Garry Tan, Cofounder of Posterous and Partner at YC; Gokul Rajaram, Head of Ads at Facebook and Brian Sugar, Founder of Sugar.[4][5][6]

References

  1. Champagne, Christine (2016-07-08). "How Hullabalu Is Shaking Up Story Time For Kids With Immersive, Responsive Content". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  2. Perez, Sarah (6 June 2013). "To Spark Children's Imaginations, Hullabalu Raises $1.8 Million From SV Angel, Great Oaks & Others For iPad Storytelling App". TechCrunch. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  3. Lawler, Ryan (2017-04-24). "Hullabalu releases Lightwell, a platform for creating interactive storytelling apps". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  4. "VCs Back Kids' Media Startup Hullabalu". Wall Street Journal.
  5. Malik, Om. "With $1.8M in funding, Hullabalu reinvents and re-imagines kids entertainment on the iPad". GIGAOM. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  6. Farr, Christina (6 June 2013). "How this purple panda is inspiring games for girls — and angel investors, too". VentureBeat. Retrieved 6 June 2013.


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