LA-based prodco HappyNest has invested an undisclosed amount of funding into children’s podcast publisher GoKidGo.

As part of the deal, HappyNest now has the rights to create short-form and long-form animated series based on original characters featured in GoKidGo’s interconnected podcast universe, including Bobby Wonder the Superhero, Lucy Wow the Inventor (pictured left) and Atlas and Zavia the Underwater Explorers. All of these figures and their stories are set in the fictional town of Pflugerville, which allows them to cross over into each other’s shows.

GoKidGo has released a total of more than 900 episodes to date and is exceeding 500,000 listens per month, according to a press release.

HappyNest launched in November 2021 as a joint-venture between LA-based Stampede Ventures and United Talent Agency. It serves as an indie animation incubator, providing creators with development funding and helping them maintain control over their IPs.

The prodco will also adapt one of GoKidGo’s two original podcast series from Goosebumps creator R.L. Stine.

Both R.L. Stine’s Story Club and Ivy’s Chilling Tales star Story Club president Ivy, who shares some of her favorite spooky stories that have happened in Pflugerville. They are written and directed by children’s book author Patrick Carman (Fizzopolis and The Land of Elyon) and target kids ages seven to 12.

The kids podcast space has been attracting a lot of industry interest in 2022, fuelled by pandemic-spurred interest in non-screen activities on the consumer side and a desire to expand franchises across mediums on the business side. Major launches in recent months have included efforts from Marvel and Nickelodeon, as well as a foray into subscription services by Amazon-owned Wondery.