Timbuktu, an educational and entertainment-focused iPad app for kids has relaunched with a revamped design, additional content, and daily updates. Previously, the company, a recent 500 Startups grad, had been testing a more traditional magazine-style experience with a cover, index and pages, but decided to move to the updated design based on user testing and feedback. → Read More
Kids educational and entertainment app maker Night & Day Studios is taking an unconventional path to growth. The startup isn’t announcing a round of venture funding, but rather a partnership with enterprise mobile software company ScrollMotion. The deal brings Night & Day Studios many of the things that an outside round would have otherwise provided: access to more engineers, a way to… → Read More
TinyTap, an iPad application that lets you or your children create playable books and games using easy DIY tools, announced that it raised a $500,000 round of seed funding from Inimiti, a new $35 million Israeli micro venture capital fund. TinyTap is Inimit’s first investment. The additional funding will be used primarily for continued product development, including the launch of new game engines… → Read More
This morning, Hulu announced a new section called “Hulu Kids,” which, as the name implies, organizes all the kid-friendly content in one easy-to-access section within Hulu’s video library. The section is available online directly at Hulu.com/kids, and it can also be found in the “Kids” section of the “Browse” menu. → Read More
Today, LinkedIn’s CEO Jeff Weiner tweeted out a link to a new initiative that his company is participating in. As I noted over the weekend, people really need to step up when it comes to those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Things aren’t kosher on the East Coast, and we all need to help. → Read More
You might be familiar with the concept of the television being used to “babysit” kids. Back in my childhood days, my parents plopped me down in front of “Dukes Of Hazzard” and thanks to them, I really love the color orange. Go figure. The days of this television management style are over and I’m seeing trends towards more interactive entertainment thanks to the iPad and other mobile devices. The… → Read More
Everloop, a social network for children backed by $3.1 million in seed funding, is today introducing its first mobile application. Called “Goobit” (remember folks, this is an app for kids), the new app brings the Everloop interface mobile, and includes one of the network’s more popular features – “goobs,” the silly pranks which let kids do things like splatter virtual bugs or toilet paper each… → Read More
Amazon subsidiary Quidsi, which currently operates sites like Soap.com, Diapers.com and the newly launched eco site Vine.com to name a few, will launched two more sites this week, AfterSchool.com and Bookworm.com. Both sites are targeting families with children, the former featuring over 70,000 items for “children’s activities” and the latter offering 45,000 children’s books to start. → Read More
Menlo Park-based YogiPlay, the educational-focused recommendation service for children’s apps, is today announcing its “Parent Center” app is available across all major mobile platforms, including iOS, Google Play, Kindle and Nook. The company, backed by $1 million in venture funding, introduced its app rating system called “YogiMeter” earlier this summer, with plans to further integrate those… → Read More
The iPad is the first computer a generation of children will have access to – a shift in computing which has birthed an industry of kid-focused startups. While some companies build apps purely for entertainment, others are attempting to leverage the technology for educational purposes. And some believe they can do both. A new entrant in this “edu-tainment” space is Kidaptive, a media and… → Read More
Tel Aviv-based KIDO’Z, which got its start back in 2009 as a kid-friendly media browser for desktop computers is finally making the jump to mobile. The company is today officially announcing an Android version of its software that enables parents to lock down their smartphones and tablets, only allowing kids access to approved mobile applications and websites. The app also provides kids with a… → Read More
HashTip is a new mobile app targeting savvy shoppers, primarily moms, who want to share tips with each other about kids’ products, activities and deals. (OK, cue snarky comment about how we already have Pinterest for that.) But unlike Pinterest, HashTip isn’t about posting “inspirational” imagery, it’s more heavily focused on social commerce. The service augments its tips with extra info… → Read More
Duck Duck Moose, the startup behind a series of educational apps for children, is today announcing having closed on $7 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Stanford University. The company, whose paid applications have now seen over 2.4 million downloads, has remarkably grown its brand through word-of-mouth alone, earning… → Read More
Ubooly, A toy that uses Apple’s iPhone or iPod touch as a means to turn a cuddly plush into an interactive experience, today revealed to TechCrunch that it has raised a $1.5 million seed funding round, from investors including Jeff Clavier’s SoftTech, 500 Startups, David Cohen and more. The funding follows Ubooly’s successful Kickstarter campaign that funded an initial production run, and its… → Read More
Wee Society, a new effort emerging from a small design and branding studio based in San Francisco, has just published its first app, a children’s interactive book called Wee A B See. And it’s the first of many products – not just apps – which this new company plans to produce.
Now, you may not have heard of Office, as the studio is called, but you probably have come across their work. It’s the… → Read More
What do you get when a team of Emmy winning children’s TV producers are introduced to the iPad? You get a company that has a whole new vision for the future of television. That company, PlaySquare, is working on something they’re calling “touchable TV.” It’s the idea that the child shouldn’t just be watching television, they should be interacting with it. And it’s not a second screen experience… → Read More
One Jackson, the latest e-commerce startup to target the popular kids’ clothing market, is preparing to make a big splash with its public debut next week. The company plays in the same space as other online clothing startups experimenting with Silicon Valley-inspired business models, including the subscription-based offerings from Wittlebee and FabKids, for example, as well as the web-based… → Read More
San Francisco-based FabKids is the latest startup to try its hand at subscription-based e-commerce, taking on competitors like Wittlebee in the kids’ apparel space, but with a slightly different twist. Instead of offering a box of separates shipped monthly, FabKids will send out one complete outfit it has designed in-house and personalized to the child, based on a custom profile filled out at… → Read More
Wonderville, an education-focused technology startup built by eToys vets from the dotcom era, is today making its public debut. You might, at first glance, think of the company as something like a “Khan Academy” for the younger crowd, given that its goal is to augment a child’s education (K-8) with additional materials and teachings. But the similarities end there. Where Khan Academy focuses on… → Read More
Like many parents, Dan Yang was fascinated by her young daughter’s obsession with her iPhone. As she went through the process of planning the best way to introduce her to technology, apps, and games, she quickly became frustrated with the lack of educational technology made specifically for children. Unlike many parents, however, Yang is an entrepreneur and optical engineer, so she did what any… → Read More
Maily is a new iPad app launching today that aims to be your kids’ first email application. Because, you know, kids these days and their busy schedules. Ha! In all seriousness, Maily is a communications tool that lets kids easily share messages and drawings with family and friends through a simplified interface that even a small child as young as three can manage, at least according to early… → Read More
Online kids’ clothing consignment shop thredUP says its recent transition from online swap meet to clothing resale service has been working. When the company was originally founded back in 2009, the goal was to offer a platform where parents could trade boxes of used kids’ clothes directly with each other. But despite some steady but slow growth, thredUP made the shift into consignment this past… → Read More
PixyKids, a Silicon Valley-based startup building a social media platform for children ages 6 to 12 and their families, is launching into open beta today and rebranding under the new name “Kazaana.” The company felt like the earlier label was “too girlie” and didn’t clearly demonstrate that PixyKids was a family platform, and not just a kids’ platform. (For what it’s worth, I have to admit the… → Read More
With today’s launch of Dinda.com.br, the founding team behind Brazil-based Baby.com.br, is expanding into a new vertical following the success of its original, but more traditional, e-commerce offering targeting new parents. While Baby.com.br is like a Diapers.com for Brazil (and local competitor with Bebestore), with Dinda.com.br, the company is introducing Brazil’s first flash sales site for… → Read More
MeMeTales, a super-cute (and guilt-free!) children’s books application arrives on Android today, following its iOS release and public debut at 500 Startups’ demo day last October. Originally from Seattle, now a San Francisco-based operation, the company was founded by husband and wife team Maya Bisineer and Pree Kolari, and offers a library of picture books designed for preschool and… → Read More
HighScore House, the family-focused startup whose previous app was a “gamified” chore list tracker for iPad, has today released its latest creation: FamJam. Parents might call it an inter-family communication tool, but that sounds boring. It’s just a fun way for kids to send their iPad drawings to grandma and grandpa without needing their email address.
The company is backed by 500 Startups… → Read More
KinderTown, the company that makes the ever-useful educational app store for parents, is rolling out a new service targeted towards app developers. KinderSights, as it’s called, will offer up a series of monthly reports based on KinderTown’s internal data. The reports aim to answer the question: what apps are parents looking for right now?
Since April, the startup says parents have performed… → Read More
Kytephone, the mobile app that transforms Android smartphones into kid-safe devices, is officially making its public debut today. The startup had previously been in beta, following its reveal at this spring’s Y Combinator Demo Day, where founders Renat Gataullin and Martin Drashkov first detailed their company’s vision.
The idea behind Kytephone is simple. It addresses parents’ growing… → Read More
Everloop, the social network for children under 13, is planning to launch a mobile application, making it one of the first companies to attempt a mobile, social network just for kids. The app, arriving in the third week of June, will translate the desktop experience to the small screen, beginning with iOS (iPhone & iPod Touch) before heading to other platforms like Android.
The company… → Read More
Another entry in the mobile-first, private social networking for families space (yes, apparently this is a thing now): 23snaps, a new iOS application that works like a mini-Facebook for posting status updates, photos and videos of your kids. The app isn’t anywhere near as dazzling as current private social network darling Path, but it’s a functional and easy-to-use alternative to the typical… → Read More
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Boston, MA
Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
Berlin, Germany
