We’re thrilled to be leading the extension of KARRI’s pre-seed round to £2.1M – backing the smart walkie-talkie that keeps kids and parents connected without a screen, with continued participation from 468 Capital, which led the first close in May.
We first heard about Pete Clifford from friends in Berlin who just wouldn’t stop talking about him, and one call in we understood why: he’s a missionary with a metrics brain.
Pete built KARRI for his own son, after discovering there was no good screen-free way to stay in touch. Dumb phones and kids’ smartwatches all came with compromises. His core belief, and ours, is that we’ve overprotected children in the real world while underprotecting them in the virtual one. KARRI redresses the balance: voice messaging, GPS and geo-fenced safe zones for children aged four to ten, paired with a parent’s app. No screen, no feed, no algorithm. The early prototype was rough around the edges, and families loved it anyway – kids filmed unboxing videos for a device that barely had a box. That’s what a burning problem looks like. (It helps that Pete is a self-confessed Yoto obsessive; he speaks fluent screen-free parenting!)
Parents agree. KARRI pre-sold 1,250 devices off a few simple Instagram posts, at £50 plus a £5 monthly data fee. And with schools around the world moving to ban smartphones, the timing could hardly be better.
“Every parent we know – not least myself! – is wrestling with the same question: how do I stay close to my child without handing them a smartphone? KARRI is the answer we’ve all been waiting for someone to build. Safe, simple, intuitive – but wow, it looks cool too. It’s the kind of product kids are genuinely excited to clip on. KARRI is going to give a whole generation back a few more years of childhood. And yes, I can confirm: one of those pre-orders is mine”
Mario, Emerge
The funding takes KARRI’s second-generation device into mass production, with first shipments rolling out across the UK this month.
Pete and team – welcome to the Emerge community. Over and out!
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