Parents now have another reason to keep a watchful eye on their iPhones when their kids are around with news that Corus Entertainment Inc. has made an investment in mobile gaming startup Fingerprint Digital, Inc
San Francisco-based Fingerprint Digital creates educational and engaging gaming apps for kids, and the Corus investment is intended to further grow and expand Fingerprint’s learning and entertainment platform called Fingerprint Play. The funding amount wasn’t disclosed, but the total funding raised to date is approximately $7.8 million.
As the lead investor, Corus will bolster Fingerprint’s position as one of the key contenders in the growing children's app market as Fingerprint adds more content, expands its product offering and names Corus’ Colin Bohm, Managing Director, Nelvana Enterprises to its board.
The Fingerprint Play platform launched in December of 2011 and is available on iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad) and offers a range of entertaining and interactive educational content. Fingerprint offers 14 apps today, which the company claims have been played over 20 million minutes. With this investment from Corus, Fingerprint Play plans to expand to Android devices and add eight new gaming apps by the end of 2012.
The investment is a good fit for Corus Entertainment which currently offers a variety of kid-focused assets including television networks; an animation business, Nelvana; and a book publishing business, Kids Can Press. The company’s brands, including Max & Ruby, Babar, Franklin and Friends, Scaredy Squirrel, Chester and CitizenKid, and Corus plans to bring some of its properties to the Fingerprint Play platform.
