Maka Kids redefines screen time with a well-being focused streaming app

In a media environment where viral sensations like Baby Shark and Skibidi Toilet dominate, a new startup is challenging the status quo by prioritizing child well-being over endless watch time. Maka Kids has developed a streaming app specifically for children ages zero to six, curating content that supports healthy development rather than maximizing engagement. The company has secured $3 million in seed funding to expand its platform and is currently accepting waitlist sign-ups.

What sets Maka Kids apart from conventional streaming services is its deliberate avoidance of recommendation algorithms, advertisements, and auto-play features. Instead, the app delivers a predictable, intentional experience aimed at fostering learning, creativity, and emotional growth.

The venture was co-founded by Isabel Sheinman and Tanyella Leta, who previously launched Nabu, a non-profit that distributed children’s books to over 15 million children across 26 countries. The duo first met at a dinner in 2013 through a mutual acquaintance and quickly bonded over their shared backgrounds as children of educators and entrepreneurs. That connection inspired Nabu and later fueled their vision for Maka Kids.

The concept for Maka Kids emerged from conversations with friends, family, and Nabu customers who expressed growing anxiety about screen time’s impact on their children. After conducting hundreds of user interviews, Sheinman and Leta crafted a solution: a streaming platform built around child well-being.

“We were seeing parents get completely overwhelmed trying to weigh decisions about what was unsafe, what was good, and understand why their kid was melting down every time screen time ended,” Sheinman said. “At the same time, we watched the children’s media ecosystem get louder, faster, more algorithmically driven. Looking at this problem, we felt uniquely positioned to deliver the relief that parents craved.”

Every piece of content on Maka Kids is assessed using Maka Imprint, the startup’s patent-pending developmental framework. Developed over two years of research in collaboration with the Yale Child Study Center, this framework maps seven core domains of early childhood development across more than 650 indicators. These include language, creativity, emotional skills, and growth mindset.

The platform licenses content directly from IP holders and individual creators, and also partners with studios and animators to produce original shows. Each program undergoes a rigorous evaluation of pacing, stimulation levels, color contrast, and narrative structure. The result is a catalog of slower-paced, lower-stimulation content with genuine story arcs drawn from diverse cultures worldwide.

Sheinman and Leta emphasize that the right story, delivered at the right moment, can be a powerful tool for a young child’s development. “Stories can support language development, emotional regulation, curiosity, and give kids a sense of how wide the world is,” Leta said. “Children’s media at its best is one of the most powerful developmental tools families have, when it’s designed with this intention. Most of the platforms children watch on 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.”

When parents create a profile for their child, they can select channels focused on topics like kindness, STEM, emotional regulation, or movement, and set preferred session lengths. Maka Kids then delivers curated, developmentally vetted content tailored to those choices. Sessions end naturally with wind-down cues from characters, helping children transition away from screen time calmly.

The app is currently running a private beta on iOS this summer, with a public launch planned for this fall on iPhone and iPad, including casting support via AirPlay. Maka Kids reports thousands of families already on its waitlist.

The business model relies on a subscription fee of $11.99 per month, with a discounted annual option. 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, and Segal Ventures, along with angel investors. The startup plans to use these funds to expand its catalog of vetted shows.

“Longer term, our vision is to become the trust layer for every digital experience children have,” Sheinman said. “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.”