Irish augmented reality start-up HoloToyz has been awarded a prize at the prestigious Spielwarenmesse toy fair in Germany for its "outstandingly innovative" Paw Patrol tattoos and stickers.
The jury in Nuremberg commended founders Kate Scott and Declan Fahy for the prudent introduction to new technologies, the easy-to-use app, and the fair price point in awarding the Meath company the Start-Up ToyAward.
Kids can scan the tattoos and stickers, based on the popular Paw Patrol children's programme, using the HoloToyz app, causing them to 'come to life' as an AR image that can be captured on camera.
"We are thrilled to receive this recognition from the ToyAward judges and to have been selected from a total of 584 new products registered at the event," said Scott, CEO and founder of HoloToyz.
"We believe that our 'Awesome Reality' technology will revolutionise the toy industry, and we're proud to be leading the way with our innovative and kid-friendly products."
In Association with
“Winning the toy award gave us significant exposure at the world's largest toy fair and put us on the radar of some of the world's largest toy distributors, further solidifying our position as a leading player in the industry”, said Fahy, sales and co-founder.
HoloToyz is planning to launch seven new AR-enhanced products by the end of 2024, including jigsaw puzzles, t-shirt activity sets, cube puzzles, wall decals, books and collectibles.
HoloToyz received investment of €2m from Bmore Virtual LLC in late 2021 for transfer of intellectual property, and a further €250,000 from Enterprise Ireland last September. The company made a €69,000 loss in its first 18 months of trading.
A total of 584 new products were entered for the ToyAward by 338 exhibitors across six categories: Baby & Infant (0-3 years), PreSchool (3-6 years), SchoolKids (6-10 years), Teenager & Adults (10+ years), Startup and Sustainability.
An international jury consisting of 13 experts from the fields of retail, industry, market research, sustainable plastics, education and toy safety assessed all submissions and narrowed down the list.
The assessment criteria included play enjoyment, potential for commercial success, originality and comprehensibility of the product concept.
Photo: HoloToyz's Paw Patrol AR in action. (Pic: HoloToyz)
