Ruckus Mobile Media has continued to move forward in the software application sector, having relocated, brought in financing and expanded licensing and development.
Ruckus, a digital children”™s entertainment and media provider, which focuses on educational material for tablets and smartphones, formed last fall in Norwalk. The company recently moved to Wilton”™s newly renovated Wilton Office Plaza at 372 Danbury Road.
“We”™ve made some progress having moved into a new building and expanding licensing,” said Rick Richter, founder and CEO of Ruckus. “The market is changing quite a bit. You have Android catching up and Apple continuing to rock; it”™s a quickly expanding space. We see today”™s ”˜on-the-go”™ family consuming more and more entertainment, information and educational experiences through high-caliber mobile applications.”
Ruckus, which released its first five apps on iTunes in October, currently has 15 applications in the Apple App Store and is about to release its first two Android applications.
“We have some big plans for licensing with some key brands down the road,” Richter said. “We want to be where kids are already, with brands that they enjoy and want to have full immersion in. Ultimately, we are on devices that kids want to be using and are using more and more.”
Ruckus has a strategic licensing agreement with Pawtucket, RI-based Hasbro to jointly develop original mobile interactive storybook apps based on Hasbro brands. The first three titles to be released this month will be based on Tonka Chuck and Friends, My Little Pony and Transformers Prime. The storybooks will include interactive elements such as activities, coloring and recording functions.
“Our strategy is for our consumer to be able to engage with our properties on any platform, anytime, anywhere,” said Simon Waters, senior vice president of global brand licensing and publishing for Hasbro. “Our digital team has been focused more on gaming; this application really takes us into the reading space and into education.”
Ruckus”™ titles to date have been a mix of original and well known early reading picture book applications with voiceovers by actors such as Robin Williams, John Cleese and Meryl Streep.
“We think of ourselves as a very fun and progressive Connecticut company,” Richter said. “We could be doing this in Brooklyn or Manhattan and a lot of people feel we should be doing it there, but Fairfield is a great place to run a company, if you can get it right. You want to bring in the best people you can.”
The Ruckus staff has grown to 19, including a nine-person Delhi, India-based development team.
Ruckus has also obtained venture capital funding from San Francisco-based investment group Alsop-Louie Partners. With private investors, the group has given $3.5 million in Series A funding.
“Alsop-Louie Partners”™ support allows us to enrich our products, expand our offerings and expedite the development of original content with marquee titles,” Richter said. He said the funding has allowed Ruckus to broaden its product offerings across all major mobile devices in the coming months by expanding distribution from Apple”™s iTunes first to Google”™s Android Market, then to Research In Motion”™s Blackberry App World, Amazon”™s App Store and the Barnes and Noble Nook.
“Ruckus is a proven performer accomplishing much in a very short amount of time,” said Jim Whims, partner with Alsop-Louie.
Ruckus has also begun to partner with education outlets in Fairfield County. It has built one of its apps to parallel programs by the New York City-based Rainforest Alliance and Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk. The app, the Rainforest Survival Challenge, is designed specifically for the iPad to educate children about the connection between plants and animals in the Amazon rainforest.
“Technology literacy is perhaps the most misunderstood of the 21st century learning skills,” said Kevin Carter, chief operating officer of Stepping Stones.
The Rainforest Alliance will be traveling to museums throughout the country with the application as an element of its educational series.
