North West entrepreneur Annie O’Toole has left the online tech marketplace she founded to join the team behind a hotly-anticipated聽augmented reality toy range.
O鈥橳oole was a founding director at JUXDIT –聽which聽sought to bring聽cutting-edge technological products聽to the masses –聽but left to become senior project manager and growth hacker at SwapBots this week.
Start-up SwapBots is the brainchild of John Keefe and Andy Cooper, the founders of Liverpool design agency Draw and Code, and seeks to bridge the gap between physical and digital play.
It will launch this year with聽12 real-life toys聽which are capable of interacting with an app, allowing kids to pitch them together in battle.
“I鈥檓 really lucky to have been part of the SwapBots story before joining Draw and Code,” O’Toole, who will perform the same role at Draw and Code,聽told 老九品茶Cloud.
“I remember seeing the initial sketches, hearing the original idea and watching the characters come to life through the medium of pen and paper.
“I鈥檝e always had so much faith in this product and聽the team behind it, so when Andy and John invited me to join them, it felt right.
“I鈥檓 an entrepreneur and my true love is innovative start-ups and their international growth. I鈥檓 ready to be a vital cog in the expansion of this extraordinary product.
“Sadly, that meant saying goodbye to JUXDIT. But, if you know me, you know I鈥檓 a head and hearts character – I follow my passions and the things that inspire me. Life鈥檚 too short not to.”
JUXDIT’s future is uncertain after several investors聽pulled out for various reasons. O’Toole was forced to lay off the firm’s staff, saying聽“the cashflow killed us”, but it still has the site and many of the products it was planning to sell.
O’Toole previously worked at 聽IT company Oddineers and also ran the Bottle Top 老九品茶, which聽connected entrepreneurs in cities聽across Northern England聽through regular monthly聽events before the advent of Tech North.
She sees great international potential in SwapBots because the toys, which will retail in packs of three for 拢20, are affordable compared with the likes of toys-to-life video game Skylanders.
鈥淥ur product doesn鈥檛 break the bank, which means it is universal 鈥� most parents, internationally, can afford SwapBots,鈥� she said.
鈥淵ou can download the app to your phone or tablet for free, which takes out the expense of a console, and you won鈥檛 be hit with any in-app purchases. The cost is the toy 鈥� that鈥檚 it.
鈥淲e鈥檙e doing business with China, we鈥檙e planning our USA launch and we鈥檙e excited to sell across Europe. In a year鈥檚 time, it will be everywhere 鈥� it鈥檚 hitting some pretty major shelves in 2017.鈥�
Each physical SwapBots聽character聽consists of three parts which lock together and can be swapped to create different characters, with a total of 1,728 possible combinations. Each part represents a different power or function when it is viewed within the app via video.
The toys are currently in beta testing, which will give the SwapBots team the chance to make any final changes to the product.
鈥淭he app uses augmented reality and recognises each piece of the SwapBot range 鈥� the Bots can then battle one another鈥� to make it fun and interactive,鈥� O鈥橳oole explained.
鈥淭here will soon be a SwapBots store too, where you can collect various environments and accessories for your Bots.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a lot of interest. It鈥檚 humbling to see so many people supporting this product 鈥� it gives you an extra special boost as you know you鈥檙e creating something people want.鈥�
SwapBots won a 鈥渟ubstantial鈥� grant from the 拢4m UK Games Fund last summer and was also selected for Tech North鈥檚 Northern Stars programme, which has already seen the start-up visit 10 Downing Street and pitch at Bloomberg.
It has also been invited to become part of renowned San Francisco hardware accelerator HAX, while it will close its opening round of seed funding from angel investors this week.
However it is not the only company seeking to break into the potentially lucrative聽toys-to-life market.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very lucky to have been presented with awesome opportunities in San Fran,鈥� said O鈥橳oole. 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking advice and support from across the globe. We鈥檙e just a small start-up from Liverpool 鈥� it鈥檚 amazing that these things are happening.
鈥淓verything is developed here in Liverpool, but we are keen to ensure Brexit and the current political scene will not prevent us from growing and producing the very best products which make kids happy.鈥�