Start-up of the week: Muro learning boards pick up £54,000 in Creator Awards

Each week we take to the streets to find a start-up business right here in Hackney. This week, we discovered Muro in London Fields, which has just won an award for innovation

Jeremy Bond, who created the Muro wooden learning tool for children - Credit: Muro

The designer of a range of educational wooden toys has won £54,000 in the “launch” category of the Creator Awards, which recognise innovative makers worldwide.

Jeremy Bond, 30, was delighted to pick up the prize from shared workspace company WeWork for Muro – for which he also raised £35,000 through a crowdfunder in April.

He designs the activity boards at Hackspace in London Fields, and they are made abroad.

He said: “The original idea for Muro came from an activity board my brother built for his son out of MDF, as a way of encouraging him off the iPad.

“After seeing how much Ben engaged with the simple toys on the wall I started playing around with a few ideas of my own.

“It was during this process that I had my eureka moment and came up with the idea for a modular platform that allowed children and parents to design their own activity wall. That was three years ago.”