Launched in October 2013, StoriesAlive is an app and subscription service offering access to a library of multimedia-rich, interactive children's stories for $7.99 a month for the iPad and Android tablets. On February 26, StoriesAlive debuted an interactive version of Nancy Tillman’s On the Night You Were Born. The service now also includes a feature called MyStories, which lets kids create e-books with sound, pictures and video.
StoriesAlive is produced by Auryn, a company originally founded in 2003 that transformed itself into a digital publisher in 2010. The company is based in Los Angeles with an office in Pune, India. The company was founded by three Hollywood movie professionals and has about 50 employees, according to Swati Chandra, Auryn COO. The company has received investment funding from Palo Alto-based VC firm Artiman Venture.
During an interview at the PW offices, Chandra said the company began converting picture books into digital form but switched to apps with the launch of the iPad. The company also moved to add interactivity and multimedia content to its products, she said and now offers a library of more than 150 storytelling apps (along with six free apps) that feature interactive illustrations, dictionaries, puzzles and quizzes, animation, audio read along and personalization—users can add a parents voice, family photos, add color and more to Storiesalive apps. In addition the service offers MyStories, five interactive storybook templates that let kids create stories based around boys, girls, grandparents and animals and add their own multimedia content to each.
The service is featuring the launch of an interactive version of Tillman’s On the Night You Were Born with illustrations that animate with the touch of a finger and much more. Tillman described the new version as an “additional, interactive way for children and parents to experience my book.” Other authors include such well known creators as Suse MacDonald, Rosemary Wells, Dean Koontz and Don Freeman.
The company was founded by the CEO Umesh Shukla, CTO Amit Agrawal and chief technologist Robert Kalnins. Chandra said the company is aimed at the consumer market but “is getting attention from libraries and we’re exploring that market as well." StoriesAlive is also adding new content on a weekly basis.
StoriesAlive cofounder and CEO Shukla said, “Our goal was to expand and enhance the storytelling experience for both children and parents. With On the Night You Were Born and MyStories now available on StoriesAlive, we are continuing to pioneer new and innovative ways for families to interact and for children to express their creativity.”
