Toca Boca Wins Triple Gold in Parents' Choice Awards -- Sets Up First Office in the US

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- from ShowStoppers @ Sandbox Summit 2012 --  Play studio Toca Boca has won their most prestigious award so far – gold in Parents' Choice Awards, Mobile Category. Toca Boca won three gold awards – more than any other studio in the category. It also received one additional silver award.

"We are extremely proud that our work with developing digital toys for children has been recognized in such an acclaimed award series," says Bjorn Jeffery, CEO and Co-Founder of Toca Boca. "It shows that our fun and playful experiences on an iPhone and iPad are appreciated by both parents, kids and educators."

Parents' Choice Awards is the nation's oldest nonprofit program created to recognize quality children's media and started in 1978. Their gold awards are given to products that are judged as having the highest quality and being the most appealing products in their genre.

The Toca Boca team makes digital toys for kids on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Their focus is on stimulating kids imagination and creating play experiences that parents and kids can play together. Their products Toca Tea Party, Toca Kitchen and Toca Robot Lab all won gold, while Toca Hair Salon won silver. In total, Toca Boca´s apps have been downloaded more than 9 million times since March 2011.

Toca Boca are now expanding geographically to the US, with the opening of an office in San Francisco. The play studio in Stockholm, Sweden, is also expanding rapidly.

"The US is our largest market and we felt that we needed to come closer in order to grow faster as a company. We have had sold our apps in 119 countries so far, but the US will be our main focus moving forward," says Bjorn Jeffery, who will be moving to San Francisco to head up the new office.

"We're looking to grow Toca Boca's presence significantly in the US market – both organically and through acquisition. The digital kids market is a fantastic opportunity that we have only just seen the beginning of yet," says Bjorn Jeffery.

Previous awards for Toca Boca include NAPPA Gold 2011 and Telenor Digital Prize 2011. Toca Boca toys are created for and tested by children, from inception through production. Further, there are no in-app purchases nor third-party advertising.

SOURCE Toca Boca