5 kid-focused startups to watch in India and around the world

In an increasingly digitized world, there is a reality that no parent can escape: children are exposed to technology all the time. However, unfortunately, not many products are created with children in mind.

While the target audience of any business ends up being adults, who can pay for a product or service, undertaking projects designed for children brings double benefits: a social mission that few are willing to assume, and a potential market with millions of parents who want the best for their children.

Due to the massification of the internet, and devices always within reach, many children spend hours every day behind screens, something that’s not the most desired use of technology. So how can technology startups do their part to bring out the full potential of children? These projects are a clear example that it is possible.

Flintobox

This Indian company produces STEAM-based (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) educational activity boxes for children. Founded in 2013, Flintobox operates under a subscription model where children will receive exciting boxes with educational material according to their age.

The activities created by Flintobox are based on the 16 key developmental skills designed by a large team that includes child psychologists, product designers, pedagogy specialists, game developers, and storytellers.

It boasts a complete team trained to design activities to engage children holistically, while addressing their unique needs and developing their innate potential.

Duolingo Kids

Practically anyone who has ever wanted to learn a new language knows Duolingo. The platform is undoubtedly the most prominent worldwide and has helped millions of people, including children and young people in learning new languages.

The company developed a special version for children called Duolingo Kids, which although limited to learning English, French, and Spanish, is a great option for children to immerse themselves in new languages.

However, Duolingo has gone beyond languages. The platform also offers an app for children to learn how to read and has recently been expanding its new options for learning math and music to take advantage of science-approved, gamified educational methods to expand into new areas.

WIVI Vision

WIVI Vision is a Spanish startup dedicated to helping children with visual dysfunctions in their learning process, serving to improve their quality of life and development. The startup was recently recognized by UNICEF Lab, the accelerator focused on social projects promoted by UNICEF Spain and ISDI Accelerator.

Children suffering from visual dysfunctions can experience limitations in daily activity and see their development affected in the adolescent stages, so receiving an early and accurate diagnosis is essential to effectively treat the dysfunction and avoid long-term problems.

WIVI has developed an immersive solution that takes advantage of 3D visualization to assess the capabilities of the visual system, and then design a treatment through appropriate vision training to improve and standardize vision.

Smartivity

This project, launched in 2015, also highlights Indian entrepreneurship and its impact on children. Smartivity is a startup working to promote learning by doing and exploring. The company creates STEAM-based educational toys for children, which are designed to be fun and engaging while encouraging learning and creativity in young children, combining the two with products that offer a do-it-yourself approach.

With a growing demand for STEAM career professionals and a toy industry dominated by imports from China, Smartivity's main vision was to change the rules so that children's education in India would focus on creating minds capable of meeting the challenges of the future, all through toys made in India.

The project already exports to over 30 countries, and in 2022 it was the largest STEAM toy brand on Amazon.

Monkey Box

A food delivery service for kids? This Indian startup is bringing quality, fresh food directly to children at their schools.

It's fairly common to see these types of companies catering to the needs of adults with on-site delivery and a wide variety of food options, but Monkey Box found an underserved market in children.

MonkeyBox is a service that delivers nutritious, balanced, and appealing meals directly to children with daily deliveries directly to the school.

The company's goal is to save parents the time and stress of planning and preparing their children's lunchboxes while guaranteeing healthy, freshly made meals throughout the year planned directly by nutritionists and prepared by 5-star chefs.

With so much nonsense floating around the internet, parents can take assurance that some companies do have children’s best interests at heart.