BrightCanary, a brand new Seattle startup that offers mother and father a greater understanding of their kids’s exercise on apps comparable to YouTube and TikTok, raised a $4 million seed spherical.
Mother and father obtain the corporate’s app and log into every service utilized by their youngsters. They’ll have full entry to all exercise or get alerts when particular content material classes are flagged, comparable to self-harm or weapons. No software program is put in on the units utilized by youngsters. The app is supposed to enhance monitoring instruments comparable to Apple’s Display Time or Android’s Household Hyperlink.
The corporate is led by Karl Stillner and Steve Dossick, who beforehand co-founded PushSpring, a Seattle startup that developed promoting expertise and was acquired by T-Cell in 2019.
Stillner pointed to 2 tendencies that BrightCanary is hoping to experience: an growing variety of kids and younger adults consuming content material on-line, and considerations from mother and father about detrimental affect of smartphone use and potential unsuitable movies being watched.
“The identify BrightCanary is a reference to the proverbial ‘canary in a coal mine,’ offering early warning of potential hazard,” Stillner advised Startup. “Brilliant is a metaphor for folks lighting the best way for his or her youngsters.”
The 4-person firm simply launched earlier this 12 months and is beginning a personal beta interval. It plans to generate income by way of subscriptions.
BrightCanary not too long ago employed Sarah Warn as vp of development; Warn beforehand held the identical position at Seattle immigration companies startup Boundless.
Seattle-area enterprise capital agency Trilogy Fairness Companions led the spherical. Trilogy additionally backed PushSpring.
“Karl and Steve gained a deep understanding of the complicated social media information panorama with their PushSpring expertise, which we predict provides them a novel capability to unravel this downside in an revolutionary trend,” stated Chuck Stonecipher, managing director at Trilogy.