Moonbug is growing up.

Since being bought by Candle Media last year and igniting its own M&A strategy, the company is moving forward by focusing on digital-first IPs, acquiring the companies that own them, and investing in an original content pipeline, says managing director Andy Yeatman.

The goal is to turn popular YouTube brands into 365-degree franchises. Moonbug successfully tested and fine-tuned this strategy with preschool brands like CoComelon and Blippi. And now, armed with investment and direction from Candle—which is owned by former Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs—it has marching orders to “think bigger.”

In this new phase of growth, Yeatman says the company will focus on three pillars: geography, new demos and gaming. It will also expand its international focus to include Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Moonbug has done very well dubbing its English-language nursery rhymes into other dialects. But it’s now moving towards creating original content featuring songs and rhymes from cultures around the world in order to increase its relevance with international audiences. To that end, Spanish- and English-language video Los Pollitos Dicen Dance launched in August on YouTube, and the company’s first international series is currently in production in Brazil using local talent. Moonbug also hired former Disney VP Francesca Romana Gianesin in May to lead licensing in EMEA, Australia and New Zealand.

On the content side of its business, Moonbug’s recent acquisition of Singapore-based studio One Animation gives it a greater foothold in Asia, Yeatman says. And that ties into another of the company’s goals—to expand its core target demo. Moonbug has had category-defining success in preschool, but now it’s on a mission to reach kids in the bridge demo of five to eight. And that’s where One Animation comes in.

The studio’s flagship series, OddBods (pictured), is a non-dialogue comedy for five to eights that has aired in more than 180 countries and has 32 million YouTube subscribers. The format travels easily across borders, languages and cultures—a good example of the type of content Moonbug will be focusing on moving forward.

The company also has its eye on gaming. While its previous focus on younger children had historically made it cautious of video games, Yeatman sees the rising popularity of Roblox as having high potential for Moonbug to discover new IPs and expand its own properties.

“The next frontier for us is seeing families interact with our shows as they come off the screen.”

This story originally appeared in Kidscreen‘s Oct/Nov 2022 magazine.