Toca Boca Acquires zinc Roe Tickle Tap App Series and Development Team

New Venture Expands Toca Boca Digital Toy App Portfolio

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toca Boca, (www.tocaboca.com), the world’s leading digital toy app developer, today announced that it inked a deal with zinc Roe (www.zincroe.com), a Toronto-based studio specializing in new media for kids, to acquire the award-winning Tickle Tap apps series and the company’s 10-person development team. zinc Roe Founder Jason Krogh will serve as the CEO of the newly named studio, Sago Sago. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This new venture brings together best-in-class creativity, design and development.”

zinc Roe’s popular Tickle Tap apps, which encourage learning through practice and exploration, have been heralded by industry pundits, parents and kids as being innovative, creative and fun. Designed for children ages 2-4, the apps include Sound Shaker, a delightful sound toy, and Doodlecast for Kids, an app that records your voice as you draw to create short videos. Doodlecast for Kids has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today and The Guardian and received numerous accolades including a Gold Award from the Parent's Choice Foundation and the Editor’s Choice from Children's Technology Review.

“We are thrilled to welcome the incredibly talented zinc Roe team to the Toca Boca family and look forward to building on the momentum of the Tickle Tap series,” said Björn Jeffery, Co-Founder and CEO at Toca Boca. “Consumers can expect great things to come from this union as the two companies share a common vision and development philosophy toward creating the highest quality, innovative and fun digital toy play experiences on the market.”

In addition to the Tickle Tap app series, zinc Roe’s veteran development team has created engaging websites, games and activities for kids and youth including the Emmy Award-winning Zimmer Twins, Stella and Sam Interactive Adventures, Toot and Puddle games, and the children's site for the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

“It is a very exciting time for zinc Roe as we join forces with Toca Boca to further expand the Tickle Tap series as well as create new, original digital toy properties that will delight youngsters around the globe,” said Jason Krogh. “This new venture brings together best-in-class creativity, design and development.”

The Sago Sago studio will remain in Toronto, marking Toca Boca parent company Bonnier AB’s first entrance into the Canadian market.