In today’s digital age, the safety of children on the internet is a paramount concern. With regulators worldwide stepping up efforts to protect young users, major social networks are under intense scrutiny. These platforms are rolling out new tools aimed at shielding kids from harmful content, yet the central challenge remains: how to ensure that the content reaching children’s screens is truly safe?
While much of the focus has been on safeguarding teenagers, younger children—especially toddlers—are also avid users of digital devices, consuming vast amounts of content. Recognizing this, a team of former Google and Amazon employees has embarked on a mission to create Hello Wonder, an AI-powered browser designed to provide a secure, educational, and engaging environment for kids to learn and explore.
Hello Wonder’s flagship offering is an iPad app that serves as an interactive companion for children. With complete parental control, kids can ask questions to an AI chatbot, which delivers answers, videos, and interactive experiences all curated for their safety. The startup challenges the existing content tools like YouTube Kids, which are often criticized for prioritizing engagement over transparency. Hello Wonder is committed to giving parents deep insights into what their children are consuming, addressing a critical gap in today’s digital landscape.
The Vision Behind Hello Wonder
Hello Wonder recently secured $2.1 million in funding from prominent investors, including Designer Fund, a16z Scout Fund, Ground Up Ventures, and Chasing Rainbows. Individual investors like PocketWatch CEO Chris Williams, Things, Inc. founder Jason Toff, and MESH CEO Tony Fai have also backed the venture.
The brains behind Hello Wonder are Seth Raphael, who led AI prototyping teams at Google and was instrumental in developing the first version of Google Photos; Brian Backus, a seasoned games producer with experience at Amazon, Disney, DreamWorks, and NBCUniversal; and Daniel Shiplacoff, a product designer who contributed to Google’s Material Design guidelines.
Raphael’s inspiration for the app came from personal experience. While raising five children under the age of 12 during the COVID-19 pandemic, he realized the urgent need for safe, high-quality content tailored to young minds. Reflecting on his time studying AI’s potential in education, Raphael noted that the technology wasn’t yet mature enough to realize its full potential.
“The fundamental problem,” Raphael explains, “is that while adults use the internet daily and derive tremendous value from it, we can’t afford to let our kids do the same due to the real dangers online. Moreover, young kids lack the ability and tools to find helpful content on their own.”
A Safe, AI-Driven Environment for Exploration
Raphael initially tried to curate the best content for his children, but found this approach too limiting, especially when the kids wanted to delve deeper into specific topics. Inspired by the Montessori method, which emphasizes hands-on learning driven by children’s interests, Hello Wonder was born—a platform that leverages AI to safely aggregate content from across the internet, allowing kids to explore their passions without exposure to harmful material.
The app empowers parents to control the type of content—whether videos, games, or websites—that their children can access. Parents receive notifications about the content their kids are engaging with and can opt for daily or weekly summaries. The AI’s parent interface allows for natural language input, enabling parents to specify the type of content they want or don’t want their children to see.
For example, if a family is keen on helping their child learn the violin, they can instruct Hello Wonder to prioritize violin-related content. The app will then periodically introduce such material into the child’s experience.
Targeting children aged five to ten, Hello Wonder also offers safe communication options. Kids can interact with trusted family contacts through messaging and video calls within the app, fostering a secure digital social environment.
A New Standard for Online Safety
Jordan Odinsky, a partner at Ground Up Ventures, believes Hello Wonder addresses the issue of unsafe content exposure by integrating AI to pre-screen material before it reaches children.
“Current safety systems on children’s apps don’t go far enough,” Odinsky asserts. “As a browser, Hello Wonder doesn’t confine kids to a single format. They have the freedom to explore with AI supervision, accessing any type of content that aligns with their parents’ values, which offers them a true internet experience.”
Odinsky also highlights Hello Wonder’s adaptability. As children grow, the app evolves with them, presenting age-appropriate content that reflects their maturity. Unlike traditional browsers that present a blank search box, Hello Wonder prompts kids with ideas for exploration, sparking curiosity and encouraging them to delve into topics through voice commands.
“Wonder is designed differently,” he adds. “Kids are guided from the moment they log on, with suggestions that ignite their curiosity. This approach removes many of the challenges associated with traditional browsing, making exploration and discovery more intuitive.”
The Road Ahead
Currently, Hello Wonder is free to use, though the company plans to introduce a subscription model in the future. The team is also testing the app’s expansion to Android tablets and Chromebooks, broadening its accessibility to more families.
In an era where digital safety is increasingly vital, Hello Wonder is poised to set a new standard, offering children a safe, enriching online experience while empowering parents with the tools they need to protect and guide their young explorers.
