Soleil Moon Frye (a.k.a. the actress that played Punky Brewster in the hit TV show from the Eighties) and former IAC exec Kara Nortman have raised new funding for Moonfrye, a startup aimed at bringing creative, DIY and interactive experiences to families and parents. The startup is announcing $2.5 million in funding led by GRP Partners with participation from Greycroft, Daher Capital, and Google Ventures.
While many know her for her past TV role, Moon Frye has spent the past few years building an impressive online and social community at Moonfrye.com for parents and mothers. Moon Frye also started an eco friendly baby store in LA, designed a product line for Target, and authored two books oriented towards parents, “Happy Chaos,” and “Let’s Get This Party Started.”
Nortman most recently ran IAC-owned Citygrid Media’s Consumer Businesses (Citysearch, and Urbanspoon) and also served as IAC’s Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions.
Moon Frye and Nortman wanted to take the power of her content further. Both are mothers of young children who shared anxiety points over keeping their children actively entertained while stimulating their creativity. While details are still sparse on the actual product, the startup will be launching a mobile app dedicated to inspiring creativity in families in a do-it-yourself esperience.
“As my most important role in life is being a mom, it was clear to me that parents around the world were looking for cost effective activities where their families could come together and create meaningful experiences both online and off,” said Moon Frye. Nortman adds that the idea started from a personal pain point, and that the power of the mobile app will rest in engaging parents and children in creativity, and not pushing children towards passive entertainment.
Both explain that the startup sits at the intersection of commerce, commerce and online crafting. And startup already has a built in audience that Moon Frye attracted with her initial blog.
As the parent of an 11-month-old, I find it challenging to keep her occupied in areas where I am not surrounded by her toys. It’s unclear yet how Moon Frye is going to solve this problem, but whatever she has up her sleeve is sure to be anything but boring.