Maka Kids is redefining kids’ screen time with a streaming app optimized for well-being, not engagement

Source: TechCrunch

Overview

In a media landscape dominated by Baby Shark and Skibidi Toilet, one startup is reimagining children’s media by focusing on well‑being, not watch time. Maka Kids (makakids.com) is building a streaming app for children ages zero to six featuring content designed for healthy development. The startup has raised $3 million in seed funding to scale its platform and is currently accepting waitlist sign‑ups.

Unlike traditional streaming platforms, Maka Kids does not use recommendation algorithms, ads, or auto‑play. Instead, it offers a predictable experience that supports learning, creativity, and emotional growth.

Founders and Origin

Maka Kids was founded by Isabel Sheinman and Tanyella Leta, who previously founded the non‑profit venture Nabu (nabu.org), which brought children’s books to more than 15 million children across 26 countries.

Sheinman and Leta met at a dinner in 2013 through a mutual friend and quickly discovered shared backgrounds in families of educators and entrepreneurs. Their experience with Nabu inspired the idea for Maka Kids.

After hearing from parents increasingly anxious about screen‑time effects, the duo conducted hundreds of user interviews. Those insights shaped their solution: a children’s streaming app designed with well‑being at its core.

Image credit: Maka Kids

Content and Development Framework

All content on Maka Kids is evaluated using Maka Imprint, the startup’s patent‑pending developmental framework created through two years of R&D 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 IP holders and individual creators, and it partners with studios and animators to produce original shows. Every show undergoes analysis of pacing, stimulation levels, color contrast, and narrative structure. The catalog therefore features slower‑paced, lower‑stimulation content with genuine narrative arcs from around the world.

“Stories can support language development, emotional regulation, curiosity, and give kids a sense of how wide the world is,” says Leta. “Most platforms today were designed for adult audiences, with a kids experience crudely bolted on as an afterthought. The incentive for the majority of kids’ streaming platforms is watch time, not well‑being.”

Image credit: Maka Kids

Platform Features

When parents create a profile for their child, they can select channels focused on topics such as kindness, STEM, emotional regulation, or movement, and set preferred session lengths. Maka Kids then delivers curated, developmentally vetted content tailored to those selections.

Each session ends naturally, with wind‑down cues from characters to help children transition away from screen time calmly, reducing meltdowns.

The app is currently in a private beta on iOS (summer 2026) and plans a public launch on iPhone and iPad (fall 2026) with AirPlay casting support. Thousands of families have already joined the waitlist.

Funding and Business Model

The $3 million seed 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
• Angel investors

Maka Kids will operate on a subscription model priced at $11.99 per month, with a discounted annual option. Funding will be used to expand the catalog of vetted shows.

Long‑Term Vision

“Longer term, our vision is to become the trust layer for every digital experience children have,” says Sheinman. “Embedded into games, edtech products, and shows, Maka Imprint can help developers align their products to what is actually good for kids and families. The kids category deserves a trusted industry standard, and that’s what we are building.”