Dubai-based startup Growl Media, a creator of edutainment content for young children, has secured a Series A investment from the Auvest Group, an alternative investment and advisory firm.

Under the terms of the agreement, Auvest will acquire a significant minority stake in Growl with an added option to increase its shareholding, said a statement.

Dinesh Lalvani, CEO and founder of Growl, said: "The funding will enable us to expand our product offering to webisodes and TV; continue to build our stable of apps; enhance Eureekah, our technology platform built in-house; and bring our content to new markets.”

The team at Growl will double over the coming months as it prepares to launch its first series of webisodes in Arabic featuring Zee, one of its main characters.

By starting with mobile content such as apps and webisodes, Growl has been able to reach a huge cross-section of the population in a short amount of time.

The company aims at expanding into TV, film and merchandise, said the statement.

Humayun Shahryar, CEO and founder of Auvest, said: “Growl is poised to become a dominant player in the market for children's content in the MENASA region and we are excited to be part of this journey with Dinesh and his talented team.” - TradeArabia News Service