Sandbox & Co. is looking to license third-party content for its brand-new PlayKids+ subscription-based app, aimed at kids ages two to 12.

The platform—which beta-launched in August, featuring a mix of videos, games, books, music and podcasts—brings together content from several companies Sandbox has acquired for the first time, including preschool streamers Hopster, Curious World and PlayKids.

Featured on the “super app” are proprietary Sandbox animated series Two Minute Tales and Love is Love, plus pick-ups like Peppa Pig and Fireman Sam. And the company is looking to license more content to increase the app’s value proposition not just to families, but also to telecom companies looking to attract and retain kids and family customers, says chief commercial officer Shan Eisenberg.

As head of content for Sandbox Kids, Ellen Solberg is in charge of buying for the new app, and she’s looking for programming that spans all demos from preschoolers to teens. The company is open to a variety of content, both animated and live-action, as long as there’s a focus on learning through play, building empathy and empowering kids.

Sandbox previously operated four main apps—including PlayKids, which has more than two million subscribers who were all upgraded for free to PlayKids+—as well as roughly 20 other products, including educational websites Fact Monster and Funbrain. (Hopster, Kidomi and Curious World will continue to operate as separate apps. PlayKids+ includes the content from these apps in a branded area).

The company was challenged by churn because kids aged out of its preschool apps too quickly, and also by the steep marketing cost of promoting so many platforms and products to essentially the same audience. PlayKids+ merges everything together into one offering. “This is the materialization of a strategy that’s been a long time coming,” says Eisenberg. “Telcos want kids, and this can give them an offering that spans from preschoolers to tweens.”

PlayKids+ is ad-free; compatible with tablets, phones and TVs; and it can be used by up to five kids in the same household with individual profiles. But the app’s big differentiator is that through AI, the content kids see on its interface changes as they grow up. This should provide long-lasting value for telecom companies by keeping kids engaged with fresh and age-appropriate content, says Eisenberg.

The new app will help the company reinforce its audience where it’s already strongest: the US, the UK, Latin America and Brazil. But Sandbox is looking to forge new telco and pay-TV partnerships in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, territories where its brands aren’t very well-known. The Middle East is of particular interest for distribution because Sandbox has seen an appetite developing quite quickly there for international content and titles that explore environmental themes.

Sandbox is also going after a new market made up of companies like banks and retailers that can offer PlayKids+ as part of their promotions to draw in families. “We know how to design a strong user experience for preschoolers, and now we want to build something that works for all kids,” says Eisenberg. “Our next step is looking for distribution partners so we can reach more kids.”

This story originally appeared in Kidscreen‘s August/September 2023 magazine issue.