Top 20 kidtech startups
2021-10-13
Confido
12 minutes
Children today are the world’s first true ‘digital natives’, with nearly half of ten-year-olds in the UK already owning smartphones and tablets.
Startups around the globe are providing top products to ensure the tech available to kids (and their parents) is wholesome and educational – whether that’s aiding their schoolwork, social skills or helping them build good habits.
While there have been some notable investments made in this area, like M12 (Microsoft’s venture fund) taking a stake in SuperAwesome, investment has been slower than in other sectors. However, this is expected to speed up as demand grows.
Here are our top 20 kidtech startups...
About: The gohenry team are on a mission to make every kid good with money. That’s why they created a pre-paid card and app with unique parental controls for young people aged 6 to 18. gohenry was founded by a group of parents who wanted to help young people learn about money safely.
Location: London
Company size: 51 to 100 employees
Funding: gohenry has raised a total of $66.2m in funding over seven rounds. Their latest funding was raised in December 2020.
About: The Koru Kids team are making it easier and more affordable for families to access high-quality childcare. They don’t just believe in providing outstanding childcare to families, they are all about using technology to make it seamless for parents. Their after-school service matches parents in London with the top 10% of student nannies in London and their nanny share service helps families to share nannies with other local families.
Location: London
Company size: 251 to 500 employees
Funding: Koru Kids has raised a total of $17.7m in funding over four rounds. Their latest funding was raised in August 2019 from a Series A round.
About: Joy’s mission is to empower families. The Octopus Watch3 is the third-generation of their icon-based watch that empowers kids (2 to 12 years) by teaching good habits and the concept of time, while also encouraging them to stay active. It develops functional skills, encourages independence, and helps follow daily routines.
Location: USA
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Joy Familytech has raised a total of $2.7M in funding over 4 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Jan 23, 2017 from a Convertible Note round.
About: Playlearning is the learning that happens naturally while playing with the Lingokids app. Lingokids teaches kids important skills in English and helps them discover their natural superpowers - plus, parents can join the adventure of learning too. They’ve developed more than 600 games and activities kids and parents can play together. Their dream is to have a positive impact on 100 million families and they’re playworking hard to make it a reality!
Location: Spain
Company size: 51 to 100 employees
Funding: Lingokids has raised a total of $62.5m in funding over nine rounds. Their latest funding was raised in June 2021 from a Series C round.
About: The mission of EMYS is to shape the future of education through the world's most innovative, secure and hands-on technology. They have developed a friendly robotic head that teaches foreign languages to kids ages 3-7 through regular, fun interactions, focusing on simple vocabulary and expressions.
Location: USA
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: EMYS has completed four funding rounds. Their latest funding was raised in December 2020 from a Convertible Note round.
About: Teach kids to turn off the lights with Hyko, the Smart Polar Bear lamp and app. Learn more about Hyko's journey through interactive stories with read-aloud narration. Hyko’s stories teach kids about climate change, energy consumption and small things we can do to make a change.
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Hyko has raised a total of $207.9k in funding over four rounds. Their latest funding was raised in February 2015 from a Grant round.
About: Kuato Studios is a multi-award-winning developer and publisher of children’s learning games. Our mission is to give every child the confidence to express themselves with creative language and let loose their inner storyteller!
Location: London
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Kuato Studios has raised a total of $6.2m in funding over two rounds. Their latest funding was raised in January 2021.
About: Moonbug Entertainment creates and distributes fun and safe content for children which encourages healthy values such as compassion, empathy and resilience, while teaching fundamental life skills. They are a team of entertainment and technology experts with an ambition to redefine the kids' entertainment industry in this new digital age.
Location: London
Company size: 101 to 150 employees
Funding: Moonbug has raised a total of $265m in funding over two rounds. Their latest funding was raised in July 2020.
About: GoBubble is on a mission to make the internet safer for all kids. Launched in 2019 from the award winning eCadets digital citizenship programme, GoBubble uses a combination of security checks, proprietary real-time content moderation powered by machine learning and biometric age verification to reduce the risk of children being exposed to anything inappropriate.
Location: London
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: GoBubble has raised a total of £613.5k in funding over two rounds. Their latest funding was raised in December 2020 from an Equity Crowdfunding round.
About: Sure, computer games are fun. But outside … that's where the real adventures happen! That's why Picoo combines the best of both worlds in the first outdoor game console. With PIcoo you get the interactive experience of gaming, but with the adventurous fun of playing outside.
Location: Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Picoo completed a funding round in November 2018.
About: Hopster is the award-winning, safe, interactive app filled with premium learning shows, games, books and songs. With their responsible autoplay function, they limit the number of video autoplays and change it up with a book or game. You can also download your little one’s favourites shows, games, songs and games - perfect when travelling.
Location: London
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Hopster TV has raised a total of $3m in funding over five rounds. Their latest funding was raised in December 2019.
About: StoryToys build apps to help children learn, play, and grow. They’ll have fun with characters they love, and parents can rest easy knowing all our apps nurture their curiosity and creativity. StoryToys’ games support children's growth, confidence and happiness.
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: StoryToys has raised a total of $2.2m in funding over three rounds. Their latest funding was raised in June 2015 from a Seed round.
About: Skipy is a creative play kit built for the future artist and the budding storyteller. Skipy is a toy based on Mixed Reality that bridges the gap between the real world and the virtual world. Their interactive and entertaining app aims to keep the little hands busy by drawing, playing, learning and having fun.
Location: India
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Skippy completed one funding round in January 2019.
About: From character-led stories to hands-on creative crafts, Azoomee offers positive screen time by carefully selecting an exciting array of content so kids can safely explore anything and everything.
Location: London, UK
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Azoomee has raised a total of $17.6m in funding over 14 rounds. Their latest funding was raised in May 2020.
About: Van Robotics develops social robots that teach skills-based lessons while collecting data about individual users and leveraging machine learning techniques to develop smart, social robot tutors. Their robots track performance and student behavior, in real-time, to adapt how the robot teaches by personalizing each interaction.
Location: USA
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Vän Robotics has raised a total of $1m in funding over six rounds. Their latest funding was raised in January 2021.
About: Yoto Player is a carefully connected speaker – it has the smarts of a connected device, but all the content is safe, since the Yoto Card Store has been built for kids from the ground up. Discover a world of stories, music, activities, podcasts, radio and other inspiring audio with Yoto - all screen-free!
Location: London
Company size: 51 to 100 employees
Funding: Yoto has raised a total of $20.5m in funding over two rounds. Their latest funding was raised in May 2021 from a Series A round.
About: SuperAwesome offers kid-safe tools and technology for the children's digital media ecosystem. They’re making the internet safer for young audiences. Their technology is used by hundreds of brands and content-owners to enable safe digital engagement for under-16s.
Location: London
Company size: 101 to 250 employees
Funding: SuperAwesome has raised a total of $58m in funding over seven 7 rounds. Their latest funding was raised in January 2020.
About: PlayCraft is devoted to helping children improve their cognitive and socio-emotional abilities. They train 3 - 5+ year-olds on valuable life skills through play and support their players in becoming happy, well-rounded, and socially responsible adults.
Location: Bulgaria
Company size: 1 to 10 employees
Funding: Unknown
About: Robo Wunderkind creates modern educational tools that change the way children learn at home or at school. Their award-winning robotics kits empower kids to learn to code through the joy of play. Get creative with technology and solve real-life problems, in the classroom or at home - for 5 to 12-year-old children.
Location: Austria
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Robo Wunderkind has raised a total of $2.2m in funding over six rounds. Their latest funding was raised in April 2018.
About: Play sparks kids’ imaginations and helps them learn about the world. Toca Boca’s open-ended products give kids the freedom to play their way. Want to star in your own sci-fi movie? Design a house fit for a sloth? Or just hang out with your friends at the mall? In Toca Life World, you’re the boss! There are more than 90 locations to explore and over 500 characters to play with.
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Company size: 11 to 50 employees
Funding: Toca Boca completed a Seed round in September 2010.
We want to do everything we can to help support these fantastic kidtech businesses and the work they’re doing.
If you belong to a tech for good startup and want to have a chat about how we could scale your Product or Tech teams, do get in touch at contact@confidotalent.com.
Have we missed your favourites? Let us know on Twitter or LinkedIn, we’d love to hear from you!
Funding information taken from Crunchbase.