Mishka AI: Smart Teddy

2021: Launch US Sales

On June 22, 2021, Mishka AI announced the launch of sales of the English-language version of Smart Bear in the United States. For June 2021, Smart Teddy (the so-called Bear in the USA) can be ordered on the company's website, and at the end of June it can be bought on Amazon.

Smart Bear is an updated plush gadget that helps parents develop and entertain preschoolers, as well as instill in them household skills. Developers managed to place a whole media library of educational and entertaining content for children into the traditional and familiar form of a teddy bear from childhood: dozens of tasks to consolidate useful skills and independence, many tales familiar from childhood, as well as games to develop speech, emotional intelligence, numeracy and logic. This is a plush-shell gadget that combines NFC technology, feature buttons and a mobile application. The media library of Smart Bear was developed with the participation of children's psychologists and methodologists, so parents can not worry about the quality of content for children. All updates are downloaded from the cloud via Wi-Fi. Parents control Bear through a mobile smartphone app. Children - using buttons on his paws and NFC stickers. If you apply a super paw to them, magic occurs: the bear helps to do charging or teaches to brush your teeth.

On the American market, the company produces a product with a basic configuration. Inside the English version are 28 tales of different peoples of the world, tasks from cleaning toys to putting to bed and four types of games: alphabet, acquaintance with numbers, riddles and 'choose an extra word'. Games develop attention and logical thinking, help the child make friends with letters and understand where the figure is.

The plans include the introduction of a subscription model, which has already effectively proved itself in Russia, and the expansion of the content library in English.

The mission of our company is to help children learn the world with joy. We live in the 21st century and understand that it is difficult to ignore the world of smart devices in the process of education, it is better to use it for good. Therefore, we created an alternative to smartphones and tablets, a safe toy that helps parents in their daily affairs. During the game, Smart Bear teaches the child to speak, count and read, helping parents in this, and at the same time frees up a little time for her own tasks, "says Svetlana Zakharenkova, co-founder and CEO of Mishka AI.

According to her, the revenue from the sale of toys in the United States is $25 billion a year - this is almost 20 times more than the Russian market or a quarter of the world market. At the same time, the segment of smart toys is growing fastest. Over the next three years, the company plans to become one of the leaders in the market of smart toys for preschoolers in America and sell up to 1 million toys with Smart Bear technology per year.

According to the co-founder of the company, the entire development of Smart Mishka - both engineering and methodological - is located in Russia. The development of children under six in Russia, Europe and the USA is based on the same principles, the parents' vision of the best development of the child is close. But the cultural context can be very different, so the American part of the content team led by Bruce Goldstone (approx.: American author of 11 developmental books for children) conducts a large number of studies and interviews. This allows the company to adapt content developed and tested in Russia for the US and European markets with minimal costs.

The flagship product of Smart Bear was tested for safety and received an EAC certificate. The internal module is made of impact-resistant plastic. The module is sewn into the toy so that the child does not get it, and the wires are hidden. In the Smart Bear there are no built-in cameras and microphones, the toy does not collect or transmit information about the child. Bear is subject to an extended warranty of 1 year - during which time the toy can be exchanged in case of any damage - even if they occurred through the fault of the buyer.

Bear's teddy shell is made by Aurora World partner, one of the manufacturers in the soft toy industry. The company creates toys for zoos, amusement parks and gift shops around the world. Mishka has a tactile pleasant fur made of hypoallergenic materials.