Lost My Name, a U.K. company that creates customized picture books, is rebranding and changing its name to Wonderbly. The company, which has secured $8.5 million in new funding, also revealed that its first book to be released under a partnership with the Roald Dahl estate will be a personalized picture book version of Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory.
Wonderbly uses a program that can create physical picture books which can adjust their story to different names. Each letter in the child’s name is linked to a set of illustrations that can be rearranged on the fly by Wonderbly technology, creating a distinct visual story for every name.
The company, which has added backing from the European games company and publisher Ravensburger, will release its take on Wonka on September 13. The book will be the fourth title released by Wonderbly.
The company’s initial book, Lost My Name, is a physical picture book featuring a story determined by the name of the child that owns the book. This title has sold more than 2.7 million copies to date, including more than 990,000 copies in the U.S. market, since the company launched in 2015. (The book is available in 10 languages.) All of Wonderbly’s books are sold exclusively via its website.
The $8.5 million in new investment, the company said, will be used for product development and international growth.
Speaking to the change in company name, the cofounders, in a blog post on the company's website, said the name change had no relation to the new round of funding. The cofounders wanted a name which would speak to the expanding list being developed. The cofounders said they didn't want consumers to "think we only made the one book."
