British West Indies-based edtech developer Shoal Games has acquired kids and family mobile-based discovery platform Kidoz (pictured) for US$21 million.

COPPA-certified Kidoz reaches more than 50 million children ages two to 13 worldwide and has enabled hundreds of brands and developers to monetize and distribute content to children. It utilizes its own adtech network for sponsorships with companies like Hasbro, LEGO, Disney, Viacom and Crayola.

Under the terms of the acquisition that closed at the end of 2018, former Kidoz shareholders appointed former Kidoz directors Joseph Mandelbaum, Moshe David and former Kidoz CEO Eldad Ben Tora as directors for Shoal. Moving forward, Tora will serve as the Co-CEO, alongside Shoal’s Jason Williams. Kidoz will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary, while all of its current management and employees will remain with the company.

Shoal owns Rooplay, which is an educational games platform and original games publisher, along with a Rooplay subscription OTT platform. Following the acquisition, Shoal plans to expand Kidoz’s reach by combining its efforts and distributing its own content on the Kidoz platform.

Kidoz previously partnered with leading European ad sales house Venatus to represent Kidoz’s advertising exclusively in the UK and France back in 2017, which was the first time the platform expanded into the UK.

In the past, Kidoz has offered content that includes Rovio’s ToonsTV with videos like Piggy Tales, Angry Birds Toons and Plunder Pirates. The whole network spans more than 1,000 apps and has a built-in browser that comes pre-installed on devices made by more than 40 consumer electronic manufacturers.