Pley, a San Jose, CA-based rental service for LEGO, raised $6.7m in funding.
Backers included Allegro Venture Partners, Floodgate, Correlation Ventures, Maven Ventures and Western Technology Investments.
Launced in 2013 by Elina Furman and Ranan Lachman, Pleygo allows kids and families to rent unlimited LEGO sets through monthly subscriptions to develop their creativity, building and problem solving skills.
The selection includes Star Wars, Batman, Chima, Friends, among others.
The company is hiring.
FinSMEs
20/03/2014
Update 24/03/2014
Press Release
Pley, a LEGO® subscription service commonly known as the Netflix for LEGOs, has secured $6.75 million Series A funding. The equity and debt financing was led by Allegro Venture Partners with participation from Floodgate, Correlation Ventures, Maven Ventures and Western Technology Investments.
The company, formerly known as Pleygo, was co-founded in 2013 by Ranan Lachman and Elina Furman, a mother of two, who upon realizing she was spending a small fortune purchasing LEGO sets for her son, saw an opportunity to provide parents nationwide with access to LEGO sets at an affordable price. To date, more than 15,000 families have purchased Pley subscriptions.
“By leveraging the sharing economy and enabling consumers to fully enjoy a product without owning it, Pley provides a more efficient way to consume toys,” said Ranan Lachman, CEO and founder of Pley “We serve a growing client base that realizes educational toys are expensive, kids outgrow them quickly and they clutter the home. LEGO is just the start as we are using the new capital infusion to create a multi-product platform that will allow families to experience playtime in a more affordable, convenient and environmentally-friendly way.”
To date, Pley has shipped more than 75,000 packages from its San Jose warehouse, where each LEGO set is fully inventoried, cleaned and sanitized between shipments. Monthly Pley subscriptions are available at three levels: $15, $25 and $39 depending on the size of LEGO set desired.
“Pley is uniquely positioned to create a new paradigm for play as it expands to multiple toy lines for different ages,” said Julie Allegro, Managing Director of Allegro Ventures “As an investor and a mother, I believe that the company is solving a real problem for busy parents and this is validated by its incredible growth in a short time.”
In tandem with the new funding, Allegro will join Pley’s Board of Directors, which includes Tom Dillon, former Netflix COO and Michael Scharff, Former head of e-Commerce for ToysRUs.