Kinsome aims to bridge the generation gap with its new app for kids and grandparents
Over a year ago, former Session M exec Eben Pingree received the news that his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Over a year ago, former Session M exec Eben Pingree received the news that his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Two days later, his father-in-law was given the same diagnosis.
To create lasting memories and help his three young children bond with their grandparents, Pingree — along with his co-founders Mike Gerbush, Ashley Hawking, and Brianne Baker — developed Kinsome, a communication platform designed for kids and grandparents to share daily updates and preserve cherished memories.
The app has been in public beta since last year and officially launched to the public on Thursday, just ahead of Grandparents Day.
Alongside the launch announcement, the company revealed to TechCrunch that it secured $1.2 million in pre-seed funding. It’s backed by an impressive roster of investors, such as Wattpad co-founder Ivan Yuen and angels with backgrounds at CashApp, Doordash, Draftkings, GitHub, HubSpot and FitBit, among others.
Numerous family-oriented private messaging apps, such as Honeycomb, Kinnect, Kinzoo and Stars are aimed at recording memories and saving conversations. Engaging young children in phone conversations with their older relatives can be challenging due to their short attention spans. Furthermore, it can be difficult for younger children to connect with grandparents whom they don’t see frequently.
However, Kinsome believes its main differentiator and selling point is “Kinzey,” an audio-first AI companion (powered by OpenAI’s GPT API, OpenAI’s Whisper and ElevenLabs Speech Synthesis) that aims to support kids and grandparents with expressing themselves, which could be helpful for younger kids and grandparents who find it difficult to keep the conversation going due to the generational gap.
Kinzey can suggest conversation starters, provide questions, as well as provide real-time explainers for terms the grandparent might not know. For instance, if a grandchild talks about Taylor Swift, Kinzey can explain who that is. The company claims its AI also remembers previous conversations, so it can use the information to expand on topics and help form stronger connections.
Article