*By: Madison Alworth* Many toy makers may feel imperiled by the closing of Toys 'R' Us, but KiwiCo seems to be doing just fine. The company, which sells kits that encourage kids to build and create their own toys, says sales have grown at an annual rate of about 60 percent a year since its founding in 2011. "This year we are approaching $100 million in sales," said Sandra Oh Lin, the company's founder and CEO, in an interview with Cheddar. KiwiCo took in a round of financing to the tune of $10 million early on. It started producing STEM-based toys, but evolved to sell crates of materials to build toys for everything from engineering to art to more. "In a few weeks we are actually launching a new line called Atlas Crate, which is all about geography and encouraging kids to see themselves as global citizens," Oh Lin said. "We are really about encouraging kids to see themselves as young innovators. We want them to embrace the thought that they are makers, that they have innate creativity. What we are trying to do is instill that creative confidence as well as the tools." The crates are available as stand-alone products and through a subscription service. A [monthly subscription](https://www.kiwico.com/) starts at $19.95 but goes down in price if customers sign on for longer periods. For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/kiwico-subscription-services-for-stem-toys)

Share:
More In Business
What Elon Musk Might Discuss on the Tesla Q4 Earnings Call
Coming off of a fourth-quarter delivering just over 300,000 cars, Tesla is expected to report tremendous earnings after the bell on Wednesday. Al Root, a senior writer for Barron’s, spoke with Cheddar’s Baker Machado about the anticipated earnings report and speculated about what Elon Musk will discuss during the call with investors, including a Cybertruck update, new factories, a possible new vehicle, and/or new larger form batteries. "There's a menu of things he could talk about, and any combination of those would be good," said Root.
PLNT Burger's First Brick and Mortar in NYC Debuts
Foodable Labs data shows restaurants that started offering vegan options saw a 13% increase in traffic. According to this 2018 study, 51% of U.S. restaurants now offer vegan options, and we can expect that number to keep rising. This week, one plant-based, fast-casual restaurant celebrates the grand opening of their first brick-and-mortar store in New York City: PLNT Burger. Ben Kaplan, CEO of PLNT Burger, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Runwise Raises $11 Million to Reverse Climate Change by Updating Buildings
Commercial and residential buildings account for 13% of carbon emissions in the U.S., according to the EPA, and one company says it has a solution. Runwise says it has updated the boiler and heating systems of thousands of buildings, and that its technology not only lowers carbon output but also saves landlords money. Lee Hoffman, Co-Founder and COO of Runwise, joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Load More