Baoli Cat Aims to Boost Children's Brain Development with AR Toys, Targets RMB 30 Million in 2017 Pre-Sales and Expansion Across Eight Major Chinese Cities

Mr. Zhuang Wei, Founder of the “Baoli Mao” Brand and CEO of Qingdao Dashouxiaoshou Technology Co., Ltd.

Early childhood education and cognitive development require timely intervention, making it a top priority for families. Abroad, the renowned tech company Osmo, headquartered in California and founded in 2013, was an early pioneer in launching a tangram set and a 26-letter block set designed for children. These products integrate virtual visuals from the iPad with real-world objects, promoting healthy brain development in children. In 2014, Osmo’s products were named one of the 25 Best Inventions of 2014 by TIME magazine.

At its inception, Osmo secured a $2.5 million seed funding round led by K9 Ventures. In 2014, it raised $12 million in Series A financing, followed by a $24 million strategic funding round in 2016. Clearly, the advent of the AR boom has garnered increasing market enthusiasm for applying AR technology to early childhood education and healthy development. The penetration of AR is poised to bring a “technological transformation” to the children’s toy and education markets, which are facing upgrades. Consequently, how to seamlessly integrate AR technology with toys to create high-quality AR products has become a new topic of discussion among numerous health tech companies.

Integrating AR technology, the Baoli Cat interactive educational toy leverages high-tech means to realize the concept of “edutainment.” It is making a strong entry into the children’s smart toy sector, further driving “consumption upgrading” in the traditional children’s toy industry and maximizing the development of children’s cognitive abilities and intelligence.

Since its market launch in September 2016, Baoli Mao has attracted attention from industry peers. With the expansion of online and offline channels and brand promotion, it has gradually come into the spotlight of parents and children. To explore the achievements made by Baoli Mao over the past year and a half, as well as the current state of the early childhood education and brain development product sector, VCBeat conducted an exclusive interview with Mr. Zhuang Wei, founder of the “Baoli Mao” brand and CEO of Qingdao Dashou Xiaoshou Technology Co., Ltd., to gain insights into new strategies in this competitive landscape.

Zhuang Wei, a graduate of Shandong University of Finance and Economics, is not only a leader of the founding team but also the father of an eight-year-old child. It can be said that from the moment he first became a father, Zhuang Wei began to focus on the cause of children’s healthy development. “I have always believed that play is crucial to a child’s growth, especially during the earliest years of life. We should provide children with products that make play more meaningful and more beneficial to their development and character building,” Zhuang Wei stated. He mentioned that his daughter, born in the post-2000 generation, lives in the era of mobile internet and is highly proficient in using smartphones and iPads. In this age of mobile internet, many things require intelligence and connectivity, which represents a major trend.

Since 2014, Zhuang Wei has focused on research into early childhood educational toys, spanning from physical products to app development. Through gradual engagement with and understanding of users, he conceived the idea for the Baoli Mao AR toy. He aims to leverage this smart children’s product to enable kids to acquire knowledge and stimulate their intellectual development through play, while also establishing a new mode and trend of interaction between children and parents. His goal is to accompany children in their joyful growth and provide them with a different kind of future.

The team already has 32 members.

Over the past year, the Baoli Mao team has grown from a handful of founders to a staff of 32, with its workforce continuously expanding. The founding team recruited professionals from well-known enterprises both in China and abroad, comprising experts across various fields. These include Dr. Wang, the company’s senior technical advisor, who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has dedicated many years to developing educational products that better promote children’s physical and mental well-being. The Sales Director brings over ten years of experience in toy industry sales, having previously worked for toy giants such as Alpha Group and Muwan Shijia, and possesses extensive market channel resources.

The essence of Baoli Mao games helps children benefit in social and emotional learning. Currently, Baoli Mao has launched five games, including Fun Tangram, Word-Building Puzzles, Number Forest, Magic Paintbrush, and Bouncy Ball Play. These games not only stimulate children’s hands-on creativity and drawing abilities but also motivate them to learn English and mathematics, thereby fully unlocking their brain potential and inspiring creative thinking.

From the current perspective, the Baoli Cat toy requires integration with an iPad. Many parents prefer their children to engage with traditional publications and toys, rather than being immersed in iPads all day. By leveraging AR technology, which merges reality with virtual elements, Baoli Cat enables children to manipulate physical toys while using the iPad. This approach prevents children from merely indulging in monotonous electronic games, enhances their interaction and connection with the real world, and stimulates their awareness of discovery as well as their hands-on creative abilities. As a result, children can appreciate the traditional elements valued by their parents while also experiencing the enjoyment of high-tech innovation.

Children are experiencing the product launched by Baoli MaoFun Word PuzzleProduct

Regarding children's toys, Zhuang Wei believes that truly interesting and creative features must support multiple usage scenarios, which are not predefined by us for the users. For Baoli Cat, its most critical functional highlight lies in its emotional care capabilities. Baoli Cat is not merely an engaging toy for individual play, but also a bond for family-wide entertainment and interaction. Leveraging AR technology, Baoli Cat demonstrates remarkable effectiveness in supporting children's education. Parents can fully maximize the "edutainment" value of Baoli Cat as an educational toy, better stimulating and enhancing children's various abilities through interactive experiences, while enjoying quality parent-child time together.

Baoli Cat not only serves as a bridge for communication between children and their parents but also safeguards children’s healthy growth. By leveraging AR technology to enable human-computer interaction, it addresses parents’ concerns about children sitting motionless in front of computers, becoming addicted and jeopardizing their physical health. Baoli Cat effectively integrates physical toys with its app, encouraging children to step away from passive virtual video games. Instead, it enriches their imagination and fosters curiosity within a new technological horizon, “activating” brain development and personality growth, thereby laying a solid foundation for their future development.

Many parents worry that prolonged exposure to electronic screens may compromise their children’s visual health and lead to vision deterioration. Zhuang Wei stated, “In fact, parents can rest assured. The primary cause of myopia in children is largely attributed to improper habits when using electronic devices. For instance, during gameplay, children often experience intense mental concentration and sustained visual focus, which can easily induce eye strain. Additionally, the close proximity between the screen and the child’s eyes while playing video games can also contribute to vision decline. However, the virtual-real integration features of Baoli Mao effectively mitigate these issues. While engaging with Baoli Mao, children not only use their eyes but also involve their hands. Moreover, they maintain a safe viewing distance of 50 cm from the screen, and their gaze shifts frequently. These factors significantly reduce the impact of electronic screens on children’s eyes.”

The advent of the AR and VR era has accelerated the transformation integrating technology, products, and services, further leveraging the advantages of technological applications. Baoli Mao’s cost control and technical solutions in the field of AR toys have already reached a leading industry standard. Currently, an increasing number of companies are entering the high-tech toy and application market based on AR technology, such as Putao Technology and Xiaoxiong Niaochao. These products feature similar hardware configurations, with software primarily focusing on content like Pinyin, arithmetic, and drawing. Technologically, Baoli Mao has achieved robust object recognition under complex backgrounds and unrestricted placement orientations, with detection and recognition speeds reaching 20 frames per second and a recognition rate exceeding 99%.

Baoli Mao products are independently developed through the recruitment of high-caliber technical talent. R&D personnel receive equity compensation in exchange for their technological contributions, which also ensures the company’s access to continuous technical support. In terms of manufacturing, the company has established its own factory and completed product assembly and production.

In addition to its diverse content offerings, Baoli Cat products boast a significant price advantage. While competing games in the same category are typically priced at around RMB 300, Baoli Cat is priced at approximately RMB 200. This enables distributors to achieve a gross procurement margin of 68.6%. The product’s high cost-performance ratio, coupled with the substantial profit margins for purchasers, provides a strong foundation for market expansion.

Baoli Mao has now integrated both online and offline sales channels. In terms of traditional retail, the brand has progressively entered major shopping malls for sales. As of December 31, 2016, it had established a presence in four local malls in Qingdao and multiple malls in other cities, while also hosting a series of large-scale experiential and promotional events. On the online front, Baoli Mao is available on major e-commerce platforms and has developed dedicated distribution channels through WeChat-based micro-retailers, having already reached cooperation agreements with numerous micro-retail partners.

In terms of brand communication, Baoli Mao leveraged internet marketing strategies to drive powerful brand promotion and ignite community-based viral spread. This approach established 30,000 community groups, reached 4 million impressions, collected member data, enhanced customer stickiness, and enabled big data analytics, thereby laying the groundwork for future product development and promotional campaigns.

According to Zhuang Wei, educational toys have a short development cycle and high profit margins. Compared with other AR sectors, the AR toy segment already has a clear business model and sufficient market acceptance, indicating significant growth potential. At present, AR toys remain at a relatively simple and elementary stage, with limited product variety and imperfect human–computer interaction. With continuous technological advancements, there is considerable room for innovation and development.

Last year marked the first year since the launch of Baoli Mao products. Due to insufficient funding for marketing, sales volumes were not significant. In 2016, the company secured RMB 2.4 million in seed financing. With plans to subsequently raise RMB 10 million in angel investment, the company will focus on deepening channel expansion and strengthening marketing efforts. The projected annual sales target for this year is RMB 25–30 million, comprising RMB 5 million from e-commerce, RMB 10 million from traditional channels, and RMB 5–10 million from social commerce (WeChat-based direct selling). In terms of traditional channels, Baoli Mao plans to gradually enter major cities across China, initially targeting eight key cities: Beijing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Xi’an, Nanjing, Jinan, and Qingdao.

Addressing the severe issue of product homogenization in the industry, Zhuang Wei stated that a single product cannot achieve long-term success. He approaches homogeneous products with a calm mindset, dedicating himself to brand building while simultaneously establishing an ecosystem. Baoli Mao aims to design a product system that is engaging for children and capable of delivering meaningful content.

Furthermore, both hardware and software undergo continuous iteration. The product team is currently gathering ongoing feedback from the community and users. In terms of product content planning, Baoli Mao has established a new product development roadmap that includes the launch of at least four new generations of products annually. As the product line becomes increasingly comprehensive, Baoli Mao’s offerings will systematically cover the developmental stage from age 3 (when children begin to form memories) to age 12 (upon graduation from elementary school), ensuring that appropriate products and services are available for each phase of growth. In the future, Baoli Mao will strengthen its IP culture construction to guide perspectives and convey core values.

It is evident that Baoli Mao leverages cutting-edge AR technology to meet children’s desire for novelty and fun. The brand was born out of nostalgia and a deep love for children. As Zhuang Wei stated, Baoli Mao aims not only to pass on the happiness and joy of previous generations but also to integrate the sense of technological advancement characteristic of this modern era. Guided by these tech-enabled toys, children can enjoy healthy growth, gaining happiness, knowledge, and personal development throughout their childhood.