Tinybop launches ‘Plants,’ a kids app modeling the wild

Tinybop, the educational apps for kids company, secured a $5 million Series A round, led by RRE Ventures, and announced the release of their second app, Plants, last Thursday, according to Crain’s. The story also reports that the team is soon moving to Boerum Hill:

In July, Tinybop’s 19-person staff will move to a 6,000 square foot space—10 times the size of its present quarters—at 540 Atlantic Ave. in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn. Mr. Gutierrez expects the company’s head count to more than double to about 40 people by sometime next year.

In an email to Technically Brooklyn, Raul Gutierrez, company founder and CEO, wrote that 17 of their 19 current staff members are Brooklynites who largely seldom visit Manhattan. So, there was never a thought of leaving the borough.

He wrote, “The space we’re about to rent is roughly half the price of a comparably sized Manhattan space would be and it’s a space that will be full of light. We’re also excited about moving to Boerum Hill where we have easy access to entertainment and cheap eats. We like this side of the bridge.”

Tinybop has received a lot of positive press for its first app, The Human Body, which we covered. That app allowed kids to explore what’s going on inside the human body, including when it receives different stimuli, such as an insect’s sting.

Purchase 'Plants' for $1.99

Plants appears to go in a similar direction, letting kids make fire and rain in different sort of environments, like forests and deserts. One of its seed funders, Charlie O’Donnell, wrote about the company this week as an ideal case for building a strong, consistent brand.