Mattel partners with Chinese online parenting community Babytree

NASDAQ-listed Mattel and Chinese online parenting community Babytree said they’re planning to co-developing physical learning centers across China through a joint venture, according to a joint statement yesterday.

The joint venture marks the second phase of the partnership between Mattel and Babytree's online parenting platform announced earlier this year, in which the two parties co-develop child development assessment tools and customized parenting content and development curriculum.

"We see tremendous opportunity for Fisher-Price and Babytree to fulfill this desire among Chinese parents through an integrated offering of physical learning centers and an online parenting platform,” Mattel CEO Margo Georgiadi said in a statement.

Mattel and Fisher-Price will work on the development of education framework, course curriculum, syllabi and classroom materials, while Babytree would leverage its big data capabilities to identify strategic locations for the centers, and the joint venture aims to open more than 10,000 community education centers with work already under way in six locations.

The establishment of these learning centers are expected to further solidify Mattel's position in China as a partner of choice for parents in learning and development.

"We are committed to our vision of bringing modern learning and development to China and making it accessible to parents not just in big cities like Beijing but across all regions in China," said Allen Wang, founder and chief executive officer of Babytree.

The learning centers will drive interconnectivity and continuity between the online and physical learning experiences for children aged zero to five along with service offering including play areas for families, retail and educational classes.