By India McCarty
Former YouTube exec Ben Grubbs just launched Visional Pop, a new entertainment company geared towards kids, and they’ve already made their first acquisition — Indian family media company YoBoHo.
“We’re thrilled to introduce Visional Pop to the world and to welcome YoBoHo into the fold,” Grubbs said in a statement. “Our vision is to build animated franchises that start with creators and grow into beloved global brands. With YoBoHo’s reach and capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to accelerate this mission from day one.”
YoBoHo CEO and founder Hitendra Merchant added, “Joining forces with Visional Pop is an exciting new chapter for YoBoHo. We’ve spent over 15 years building a trusted network of content for kids and families. This partnership opens up incredible opportunities to develop new animated IP, expand into global markets, and deliver more value to our audience and partners.”
Per Kidscreen, Visional Pop is “specifically focused on character-driven animated IPs that stem from YouTube and other social platforms like Instagram” and plans to develop these brands, build fan bases and launch them into “broader franchise extensions.”
YoBoHo is a great first acquisition for the company; it scores 200 million viewers a month across their 150 YouTube channels. Their most successful channel, HooplaKidz, has already earned almost six billion lifetime YouTube views.
Dublin’s Turnip + Duck came out on top at this year’s Irish Animation Awards with its preschool series Maddie + Triggs.https://t.co/UvAqVUDtIT
— Kidscreen (@kidscreen) May 26, 2025
Grubbs, who worked at YouTube between 2012 and 2018 and served as head of YouTube Kids for two years, spoke to Business Insider about his hopes for Visional Pop.
He explained that he’s looking for family-friendly characters that will appeal to both children and adults, drawing inspiration from the animated character IP market in Japan.
Related: COCOMELON Parent Company Expands into Consumer Products
“Our aspiration is to have IP that we develop and that we partner with and invest in that’s going to be recognized by our grandkids,” Grubbs told Business Insider.
Many have drawn comparisons between Visional Pop and other popular kids’ media companies, like Moonbug and pocket.watch, who have launched massively popular series like COCOMELON and BLIPPI through YouTube.
“It was undeniable from the data that the next big franchises would originate from YouTube because you have these imaginative creators who are growing passionate audiences,” Ashley Maidy, Moonbug’s managing director, told License Global. “Today, there’s an evolution that’s taking place at the company where we’re focused on building these into evergreen franchises.”
She continued, “It’s a major shift. We’re investing in marketing and many things we weren’t investing in before. We have a gaming division, educational apps, live experiences and consumer products. We’re extremely nimble because we’re digitally native. It sets us apart.”
Visional Pop’s recent launch, as well as Moonbug’s massive success, is an indicator that family-friendly content is a lucrative move for media companies.
Read Next: What We Know This New Kids’ Entertainment Company
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