Mark Zuckerberg, his wife Priscilla and their children have invested in a British company that is developing a screenless audio player for kids. The product has been a huge success with parents.
Chan Zuckerberg Ventures , the family office of Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, has invested £18m in a funding round for Yoto, which develops the Yoto Player. Other shareholders include Sir Paul McCartney.
Yoto’s spokesperson said that around $11m in new cash (£8.6m), came from the Facebook founder fund and other investors. Additional funding was provided by existing shareholders, as well as secondary share sales. Yoto is valued at $182m in the deal.
Yoto’s music speakers features cards that children can insert into the gadget in order to listen to the audio versions of popular books for children, including the novels by Julia Donaldson and Roald Dahl, as well stories from kid-friendly franchises like Paw Patrol.
The player costs £90 and has no screen. It claims to put children “safely” in control of what they listen to, with “no cameras, no microphones”.
Ben Drury, Filip Denker and their team founded the company in 2015. The company claims that its easy-to-use players allow children as young three to choose what music they listen to. “No more giving your phone to a child or worrying about annoying ads”, it says.
M. Drury said that he created the company because he was “concerns about the effects of excessive screen time on young children”. He was also inspired by the Montessori school principles when he designed the device. Yoto’s latest accounts show that the company reported sales of £27.7m for 2022.
Chan Zuckerberg Ventures quietly invested in Yoto at the end of last year. They took a roughly 10pc stake. Vivien Wa, the fund’s managing director, joined Yoto’s board.
The fund is part the Chan Zuckerberg initiative, the philanthropic organization set up by the pair, who pledged to donate 99pc over the course of their lives of their Facebook shares.
Bloomberg reports that Mr Zuckerberg has a net worth of $179 billion, which makes him the fourth-richest person in the entire world. This is largely due to his shares in Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
This deal comes at a time when parental concerns over screen-time for children and their social media usage are increasing. Data from the media regulator Ofcom shows that nearly a quarter (24%) of children aged under seven own a smartphone.
Data also revealed that half of the children aged under 13 years old used social media in some way, despite being nominally banned from creating accounts on many apps.
Smartphone Free Childhood, a grassroots campaign that advocates limiting the use of phones by children under 16, is a result of concerns about screen time.
Post Disclaimer
The following content has been published by Stockmark.IT. All information utilised in the creation of this communication has been gathered from publicly available sources that we consider reliable. Nevertheless, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this communication.
This communication is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be construed as an offer, recommendation, solicitation, inducement, or invitation by or on behalf of the Company or any affiliates to engage in any investment activities. The opinions and views expressed by the authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Company, its affiliates, or any other third party.
The services and products mentioned in this communication may not be suitable for all recipients, by continuing to read this website and its content you agree to the terms of this disclaimer.