Announcing New CEO, Signaling New Phase of Growth and Innovation
May 6, 2021
DUBLIN, Ireland (May 6, 2021) – SoapBox Labs, pioneering developer of accurate, safe and secure voice technology for kids, today announced the appointment of Dr. Martyn Farrows as Chief Executive Officer, signaling a new phase of growth for the Irish company as it builds on its well-established role in the education market and expands into the play market.
As Dr. Farrows moves into his new role, effective immediately, Dr. Patricia Scanlon, who founded the company in 2013 and has since served as CEO, will serve as the company’s Executive Chair and drive its future innovation, vision, and strategy. Dr. Scanlon was named one of the world’s top women in tech by Forbes.
“SoapBox Labs is an established leader in the education market, but when it comes to fulfilling our mission to radically transform how kids interact with technology, we’re still just getting started. I’m excited to focus on that mission and to drive forward the future technology innovation, vision and strategy of the company,” said Dr. Scanlon. “Martyn is a proven technology leader and operator. His energy, insight, and unmatched knowledge of our technology, customers, and markets will accelerate our growth during this important new phase of the company.”
Dr. Farrows joined SoapBox Labs in 2017 as Chief Operations Officer to lead operations, business development, and strategic partnerships. His appointment comes as SoapBox Labs makes significant new investments in each of its two core offerings: “SoapBox Educate” for its existing K-12 school and classroom-focused market, and “SoapBox Play” for its new consumer-focused market. SoapBox Educate will continue to develop solutions to voice-enable literacy, language learning, dyslexia screening and speech therapy products, while SoapBox Play will focus on voice-enabling children’s games, toys, and entertainment applications for the home and consumer market.
“With so many new opportunities before us, we are fortunate to have Patricia’s creativity and technical expertise driving the next phase of our innovation and strategy,” Dr. Farrows said. “I’m thrilled to take the helm at such an important juncture in our development. The coming years will see us expand rapidly and deepen our leadership position as the voice solution of choice for the classroom and consumer markets.”
SoapBox Labs’ voice platform powers a wide range of game and edtech applications including Amplify’s literacy assessment product and Lingumi’s English language learning program. In addition, in 2019, Florida State University’s world-renowned Florida Center for Reading Research selected SoapBox Labs for a multi-year partnership to create and deliver next-generation language and literacy assessments.
In the coming months, SoapBox Labs will announce a number of major new client deals and partnerships. The company will also release its first consumer solutions for apps, toys, games, and robots.
As SoapBox Labs expands its market focus, it will also grow its staff. In addition to the 10 new employees it has hired in the past year, the company aims to scale from 30 to 80 employees in the next two years. It also recently promoted three employees, including one based in the U.S., to leadership positions.
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About SoapBox Labs
SoapBox Labs is on a mission to radically transform how kids interact with technology using their voices. Our low-code, independent and proprietary technology delivers 95% accuracy for kids ages 2-12 of all accents and dialects.
The SoapBox voice engine has been built using a privacy-by-design approach, and protecting kids’ fundamental right to voice data privacy is a cornerstone of our company mission and philosophy.
SoapBox Labs leverages the same underlying voice engine to address our two core market offerings:
- SoapBox Educate voice enables products and platforms in the EdTech market for screening, practice, intervention, and assessment of literacy and language learning.
- SoapBox Play voice-enables third-party games, toys, and entertainment applications for the home and consumer markets.
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