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Strip District company reaches $215M license deal
The products are to hit the market later this year, Strip District-based Thorley said, and it has a development agreement with the toy- and game-maker for at least eight more products to be developed over the next year.
Founders Robert Daley and Henry Thorne aren't giving any details about the first two products. They'll be marketed under one of Hasbro's sub-brands, which include Playskool, Tonka, Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers, Daley said.
Still, "They are outside of the bath space," he said Friday.
Daley, the CEO, is a venture capitalist who founded the Thorley company in 2005 with Thorne, an engineer and entrepreneur who previously headed Aethon Inc. of Robinson, maker of the Tug robot that delivers supplies in hospitals.
Thorley's niche has been innovative products that use low-cost electronics. The company released its Digital Bath Spout Cover, with a built-in thermometer that reads the water temperature, under its "4moms" brand name in October 2006.
The Cleanwater Infant Tub -- which contains a digital thermometer, and lets water flow through -- followed in February.
The company's sales doubled every quarter last year, Daley and Thorne said. The 4moms items are sold through Target, Babies 'R Us, Amazon.com and other retailers.
Two more products -- a digital shower and sink thermometer -- will come out soon, Daley said.
The licensing agreement gives Hasbro, based in Pawtucket, R.I., rights to market the first two products for 50 years, Daley said. Thorley officials met Hasbro representatives as they were demonstrating the infant tub and other products at a trade show in Florida.
Duncan Billing, Hasbro's chief marketing officer, said the company is impressed with Thorley's "unique ability to marry technological innovation with a deep understanding of consumer needs to develop revolutionary new products."
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