Miko acquires majority stake in AI gaming startup

Miko, an AI robot maker for kids, on Wednesday acquired a 70% stake in gaming platform Square Off for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition will allow a complete exit for Square Off’s existing investors; however, the startup’s leadership is expected to stay onboard post the acquisition, a statement noted. 

According to the statement, the AI-driven firms aim to generate revenue of over $100 million in 2023 through the partnership.

Miko eyes an expansion of its current portfolio expecting a synergistic product growth through the collaboration. 

“Miko robots and Square Off smart board games will soon communicate with Miko robots taking on the role of instructors that teach children to play chess and other board games”, the robot maker’s co-Founder and chief executive officer, Sneh Vaswani said. 

Square Off expects this acquisition will “bring new levels of innovation, design and interaction to the space,” said Atur Mehta, the startup’s co-founder said.

The move comes after robot maker Miko raised about $28 million in a Series B funding round in August, led by IIFL AMC, Mankind Pharma Family Office and Aroa Ventures, among others, to strengthen product development and global alliances. 

This followed a $3.1 million fundraise in a pre-Series B round of funding in October 2020, led by Stride Ventures. 

Miko, which recently kicked off sales in the USA, also partnered with Paramount Consumer Products in July in a bid to feature the latter’s animated stories in the Miko 3 kids’ robot. 

The robot maker was founded in 2015 by Vaswani, Prashant Iyengar and Chintan Raikar, and employs over 230 people globally. Miko’s operations span 140 countries, as its user base widened following the Covid-19 pandemic. According to an earlier statement, the start-up is on track to achieve a 500% year-on-year growth in revenue. 

While AI-enabled gaming start-up Square Off started operations in 2016 with its automated chess board, its current offerings comprise four products sold in over 50 countries. It also partnered with chess.com and lichess.com to allow its users connect with over 100 million online players.  

The gaming start-up also registered a jump in sales during the pandemic and plans to continue working towards expanding its user base to 10 million users globally.