myFirst, a Singapore children’s technology company selling “first devices” designed to keep kids connected without full internet access, has raised more than $8 million in a Series A funding round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, the company said.
The funding comes as investors back products aimed at a dilemma many parents view as inevitable: children wanting connected tech, while families seek alternatives to handing over a fully featured smartphone with open access to adult apps and content.
myFirst sells the myFirst Fone, a watchphone positioned as a middle step between borrowing a parent’s handset and receiving a personal smartphone.
The company also operates myFirst Circle, a family app it describes as a closed, ad-free sharing network where children interact only with approved contacts.
“We started myFirst because our own kids wanted to use technology, but everything out there was built for adults,” founder and Chief Executive G-Jay Yong said.
The company’s pitch is built around restrictions by design: controlled contact lists, parental management tools, and encrypted sharing and messaging, alongside features typically marketed as safety essentials such as location tracking, geofencing and an SOS button.
myFirst says its products are used by more than one million families in over 60 countries.
Vertex’s Jessica Koh said the firm sees “a structural shift in how families introduce children to technology,” driving demand for products “purpose-built” for kids rather than modified versions of adult platforms.
myFirst said it will use the new capital to deepen its ecosystem of child-focused devices and services and to expand distribution through retail and telecommunications partners, including a push into North Asia, the Middle East, the United States and Europe.
The company also signalled an emphasis on mainstream channels, such as big-box retail shelves and carrier bundles, as it competes to define the “first tech” category before the smartphone becomes the default.
Still, children’s technology has long faced scrutiny over where safety ends and surveillance begins, leaving companies like myFirst to prove that tighter controls can coexist with products kids will actually want to use.
Business News Asia
