Kids technology startup SuperAwesome announced that it had raised an additional US$17 million in funding from M12, the venture fund of Microsoft Corporation.
SuperAwesome and Microsoft have not disclosed the details about how they will work together following the strategic investment. The latest investment brings SuperAwesome’s total funding to date to US$37 million.
SuperAwesome offers kid-safe tools and technology for the children’s digital media ecosystem. Its platform includes products for kid-safe advertising, social engagement tools, authentication, and parental controls.
The breadth of this lineup has attracted big-name kids’ brands as customers, including Activision, Hasbro, Mattel, Lego, Cartoon Network, Spin Master, Nintendo, Bandai, WB, Shopkins maker Moose Toys, WPP, Omnicom, Dentsu, Niantic, and Wildworks, among others.
“To date, our platform enables over 12 billion kid-safe transactions every month, ranging from advertising and video to community and parental consent,” said CEO Dylan Collins.
“The ‘powered by SuperAwesome’ logo is appearing on increasing numbers of consumer experiences which either directly or indirectly engage with kids. We’re just getting started,” he added.
Collins said the transaction represents a significant milestone for the company.
He explained that last week’s enactment of the Age Appropriate Design Code in the UK is a preview of how the internet will look in five years.
“Making the internet safer for kids is a sector-agnostic mission. As increasing numbers of companies outside of the core kids sector realize that children cannot be ignored, we’ve begun to shift our horizons to the wider internet,” he said said.
Collins disclosed that in their first meeting with M12, they instantly realized that they shared their perspective and values on both privacy and responsibility by design for children.
“As major technology companies begin to embrace kids and their privacy through kid technology, we’re proud to lead the way with Microsoft and M12,” he stressed.
“Given Microsoft’s footprint in the identity management space, we’re excited to explore opportunities for partnership with SuperAwesome as well,” said Nagraj Kashyap, Microsoft corporate vice president and global head of M12.
We earlier reported about Mochi Robot, a LEGO-compatible, screenless coding kit that teaches the fundamentals of coding to children ages three and above. It utilises colorful stories to engage children so they can write their first functions, loops, and more.
