Maka Kids redefines screen time for kids with a streaming app optimized for luxury, not engagement

In a media landscape dominated by Baby Shark and Skibidi Toilet, one startup is reimagining kids’ media by focusing on well-being, not screen time.

Children’s eyes It creates a live streaming app for kids ages zero to six that features content designed for healthy development. The startup has now raised $3 million in seed funding to scale its platform, and is currently accepting waitlist subscriptions.

Unlike traditional streaming platforms, Maka Kids has no recommendation algorithms, ads, or autoplay. Instead, it is designed to deliver a predictable experience that supports learning, creativity, and emotional growth.

Maca Kids was founded by Isabel Sheinman and Tanella Lita, its former co-founders Nabooa non-profit project 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 by a mutual friend and hit it off right away, the couple told TechCrunch in an email. They said they were initially influenced by the fact that they came from families of teachers and entrepreneurs, an experience that initially inspired Nabu and later fueled their passion for Maka Kids.

They began conceptualizing the Maka Kids concept after discussions with their friends, family and clients in Nabu. They heard from parents who were increasingly concerned 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 wellbeing at its core.

“We were seeing parents feeling completely overwhelmed trying to weigh decisions about what’s unsafe, what’s okay, and understanding why their kids melted every time their screen time ended,” Scheinman said. “At the same time, we’ve watched the kids’ media ecosystem become louder, faster, and more algorithmic. Given this issue, we felt uniquely positioned to provide the convenience parents crave.”

All content on Maka Kids is evaluated using the Maka Imprint, the startup’s patent-pending developmental framework created through two years of research and development in collaboration with researchers at the Yale Child Study Center. The framework maps seven core domains of early childhood development across more than 650 developmental indicators, including language, creativity, emotional skills, and growth mindset.

Maka Kids licenses content directly from intellectual property owners and individual creators. The startup also collaborates directly with studios and animators to produce original content.

Each show on the platform goes through an analysis of rhythm, stimulus levels, color contrast and narrative structure. Its catalog features slower, less stimulating content with real narrative arcs and stories from around the world.

The duo believe that an important factor that is often missing in the discussion about screen time for children is how the right story, delivered at the right moment, can positively support a young child.

“Stories can support language development, emotional regulation, and curiosity, and give children an idea of ​​how vast the world is,” Lita says. “At its best, kids’ media is one of the most powerful developmental tools families have, when designed to that end. Most of the platforms kids watch today are designed for an adult audience, with the kids’ experience crudely installed as an afterthought. The incentive for the majority of kids’ streaming platforms is viewing time, not luxury.”

When parents create a profile for their child, they can select channels that focus on a variety of topics, such as kindness, STEM, emotional regulation, or movement, and then select preferred session durations. From there, Maka Kids delivers curated, developmentally vetted content tailored to those choices.

The session then ends naturally, with cues from the characters to help children calmly transition away from screen time without melting down.

Maka Kids is running a private beta on iOS this summer and plans to launch it publicly this fall on iPhone and iPad, with support for AirPlay. 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 at $11.99 per month, with a discounted annual option.

Regarding the new funding, the startup plans to use it to grow the catalog of vetted offers. 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, Segal Ventures, as well as angel investors.

“Long term, our vision is to become the layer of trust for every digital experience kids have,” Scheinman said. “By including it in games, edtech products, and demos, Maka Imprint can help developers align their products with what’s actually useful for kids and families. The kids category deserves a trusted industry standard, and that’s what we’re building.”