In a media landscape dominated by Baby Shark and Skibidi Toilet, a startup is redefining children’s media by focusing on well-being rather than watch time.
Maka Kids builds a streaming app for children ages zero to six with content designed for healthy development. The startup has now raised $3 million in pre-seed funding to scale its platform and is currently accepting waitlist signups.
Unlike traditional streaming platforms, Maka Kids has no recommendation algorithms, ads, or autoplay. Instead, it is designed to provide a predictable experience that supports learning, creativity, and emotional development.
Maka Kids was founded by former founders Isabel Sheinman and Tanyella Leta Nabua non-profit venture that has brought children’s books to more than 15 million children in 26 countries.
Sheinman and Leta were introduced at a dinner party in 2013 through a mutual friend and hit it off immediately, the couple told TechCrunch in an email. They said they first came to the fact that they both came from families of educators and entrepreneurs, an experience that first inspired Nabu and later fueled their passion for Maka Kids.
They started dreaming up the idea of Maka Kids after discussions with their friends, families and customers at Nabu. They heard from parents who were feeling increasingly anxious about the effects of screen time on their children. Based on these concerns, the duo conducted hundreds of user interviews, which ultimately shaped their solution: a streaming app for kids designed with wellness at its core.
“We were seeing parents completely overwhelmed trying to weigh decisions about what was unsafe, what was good, and figuring out why their child was melting down every time screen time ended,” Sheinman said. “At the same time, we’ve watched the children’s media ecosystem become stronger, faster, more algorithmic. In looking at this problem, we felt uniquely positioned to provide the relief parents craved.”
All content on Maka Kids is evaluated using Maka Imprint, the startup’s patent-pending development framework created after two years of R&D in collaboration with researchers at the Yale Center for the Study of Children. The framework maps seven key areas of early childhood development to more than 650 developmental indicators, including language, creativity, emotional skills and growth mindset.
Maka Kids licenses content directly from IP owners and individual creators. The startup also works directly with studios and animators to produce original content.
Every show on the platform goes through an analysis of pacing, arousal levels, color contrast and narrative structure. Its catalog features slower paced, lower stimulation content with authentic narrative arcs and stories from around the world.
The duo believe that an important factor often missing from the discussion of screen time for children is how much the right story, delivered at the right time, can positively support a young child.
“Stories can support language development, emotional regulation, curiosity and give children a sense of how wide the world is,” Leta said. “Kids’ media at its best is one of the most powerful developmental tools families have when designed with that intent in mind. Most of the platforms kids watch today were designed for adult audiences, with the kids’ experience being an effortless afterthought. The motivation for most kids’ streaming platforms is watch time, not well-being.”
When parents create a profile for their child, they can select channels focused on a variety of topics, such as kindness, STEM, emotional regulation or movement, and then set their preferred session times. From there, Maka Kids delivers curated, developmentally tested content tailored to those choices.
The session then ends naturally, with prompts from characters to help children calmly step away from screen time without a meltdown.
Maka Kids is running a private beta on iOS this summer and plans to launch publicly this fall on iPhone and iPad, with support for AirPlay casting. Maka Kids says it already has thousands of families on its waiting list.
As for the startup’s business model, the app will operate on a subscription model, priced at $11.99 per month, with a discounted annual option.
As for the new funding, the startup plans to use it to grow its list of vetted shows. The round was led by Michigan Rise, with participation from Union Heritage Ventures, Flybridge, Also Capital, Detroit Venture Partners, Song United, Invest Detroit, Ann Arbor Spark Capital, 84I90, Georgetown Gain and Segal Ventures, as well as angel investors.
“Long term, our vision is to become the layer of trust for every digital experience kids have,” Sheinman said. “Integrated into games, edtech products and shows, Maka Imprint can help developers align their products with what’s really good for kids and families. The kids category deserves a trusted industry standard, and that’s what we’re building.”
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