Toniebox

The problem

Children's audio migrated into phones and apps, and lost everything a physical book had: browsable, giftable, ownable, and usable without handing a five-year-old a screen.

The solution

A fabric-covered audio cube that plays a story when a collectible figurine is placed on top. For children's publishers and audio rights holders it has become a distribution channel with genuine scale.

What is distinctive

Evidence that format innovation for young readers can be a hardware question, and that a physical–digital hybrid can outsell the pure app.

Evidence

• Founded 2014 in Germany; listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
• 10 million Tonieboxes and over 125 million figurines sold worldwide as of September 2025, activated in more than 100 countries.
• FY2024 revenue of €481 million, up 33% year on year.

Compiled from public sources, August 2026. Not yet reviewed by the organisation.