ROYBI

Founded by Elnaz Sarraf and Ron Cheng, ROYBI is the developer of Roybi Robot, a first-to-market AI-powered educational toy that teaches languages and basic STEM skills. The company expanded its immersive learning offering in January 2023 with the launch of Roybiverse, an AI-driven gaming and learning platform designed for personalized learning solutions for children aged 3-12. As of January 2023, its content library contained more than 1,000 lessons in English and Mandarin.

In January 2021, the company released Chinese Mandarin (or simplified Chinese) language learning content through its Roybi Robot app for children aged 3-7. Roybi Robot is reportedly the only robot to offer both English and Chinese language learning to children in this age group. The release also marks the company’s first subscription-based offering with plans to introduce additional languages going forward.

Key customers and partnerships

In May 2021, ROYBI partnered with Grove Street Publishing, a children’s multimedia publishing company, to extend its reach through interactive digital books. Grove Street Publishing will create and distribute stories about ROYBI Robot and its journey on its platform Grover. The partnership also allows ROYBI to extend its reach from the Pre-K to K-12 markets and implement its proprietary Automatic Speech Recognition Engine in the digital books through Edge AI (on-device recognition). This technology allows children to access, read, and interact with their digital books while on the move.

In April 2021, the company entered a distribution agreement with Galaxy Next Generation, a provider of interactive learning technology solutions, to make Roybi Robot available to its existing and future K-12 school district clients. The two companies are considering joint development of future products. The company also partnered with Simon Shavanson of the NuVu Group in July 2021 to grow its retail business and establish more partnerships.