Noelle
12-05-2008, 03:48 AM
http://www.secretbuilders.com/
Quote:
Secret Builders is announcing today the launch of an educational world targeted at kids aged 5 to 14. Secret Builders features a lot of the staples of kids worlds, exploration, quests, games, virtual homes and pets to maintain, and social interaction. What it describes as its main differentiator is an emphasis on education.
Games and quests feature educational content and NPCs of famous historical figures are scattered throughout the world, where, according to the site, children might meet Shakespeare while he hosts his own birthday party or Einstein to talk about his theories. The site also emphasizes more traditional creative input, like writing essays, contributing artwork, or posting videos (all checked by human moderators) for various contests.
According to VentureBeat, the world was founded by Umair Khan January 2007 and is developed by a team of seven in the U.S. with 14 programmers in Bulgaria. After its test period and word of mouth spread, Secret Builders has 5,000 members from 27 countries.
Currently the entire world is free to play, but will eventually incorporate premium subscriptions and virtual goods for sale. Khan is open to advertising, but sensitive to bringing in brands, and is currently working with Art in Action, The Monterey Bay Aquarium, WildPlanet Toy Company and StoneSoup Magazine.
Secret Builders has raised $2.4 million in two rounds of angel funding, including Scott Hassan, a founding team member at Google, Carlos Cashman, founder and CEO of CourseAdvisors, and Ken Morse, a professor at the MIT Sloan School and co-founder of 3Com and Aspen technologies. Khan isn't currently looking for any more funding.
Quote:
Secret Builders is announcing today the launch of an educational world targeted at kids aged 5 to 14. Secret Builders features a lot of the staples of kids worlds, exploration, quests, games, virtual homes and pets to maintain, and social interaction. What it describes as its main differentiator is an emphasis on education.
Games and quests feature educational content and NPCs of famous historical figures are scattered throughout the world, where, according to the site, children might meet Shakespeare while he hosts his own birthday party or Einstein to talk about his theories. The site also emphasizes more traditional creative input, like writing essays, contributing artwork, or posting videos (all checked by human moderators) for various contests.
According to VentureBeat, the world was founded by Umair Khan January 2007 and is developed by a team of seven in the U.S. with 14 programmers in Bulgaria. After its test period and word of mouth spread, Secret Builders has 5,000 members from 27 countries.
Currently the entire world is free to play, but will eventually incorporate premium subscriptions and virtual goods for sale. Khan is open to advertising, but sensitive to bringing in brands, and is currently working with Art in Action, The Monterey Bay Aquarium, WildPlanet Toy Company and StoneSoup Magazine.
Secret Builders has raised $2.4 million in two rounds of angel funding, including Scott Hassan, a founding team member at Google, Carlos Cashman, founder and CEO of CourseAdvisors, and Ken Morse, a professor at the MIT Sloan School and co-founder of 3Com and Aspen technologies. Khan isn't currently looking for any more funding.