by Xiaoyin Qu, Founder & CEO

Heeyo is the smart friend I always wished for. When I was young, I wanted to make paper planes with the coolest flips. My parents were supportive but didn't know how to guide me. I put all my test planes all over the floor and asked the teacher for advice. The teacher complained that I made a mess and said that, as a girl, I should be neat. Deterred, I halted my project. I wonder, if I had had a smart, supportive friend who could have nurtured my curiosity, could I have become the next SpaceX engineer? That's why I created Heeyo, an AI that can support every child's dreams.

AI is getting smarter every day, and some people are starting to worry about our kids' futures.But I firmly believe humanity can get smarter and keep up too. We have stifled too much potential in children with mindless videos that hinder critical thinking, one-size-fits-all curricula that discourage creativity, and unequal access to high-quality educational resources that widen the gap even further. Imagine if we could provide 1 billion kids worldwide with their own dedicated AI motivators, supporters, coaches, playmates, and educators. Just think about how many more kids could achieve their wildest dreams. This is the vision of Heeyo.

While 81% of U.S households with children own tablets, popular AI apps like ChatGPT, Character AI, and Claude do not serve children under 13. Heeyo aims to fill that void by providing COPPA-compliant, age-appropriate AI friends for children. Over the past few months, we brought together a stellar team of tech experts from Meta, Instagram, and Bytedance, and education experts from Sesame, Scholastic, Stanford, and Harvard. Together, we built Heeyo, smart AI friends that help kids learn, now available on iOS and Android phones and tablets.

Kids can choose or design their own Heeyo friend to talk to. Each AI speaks 20 languages and is trained by child psychologists to interact with kids in safe and fun ways. Heeyo's AI friends can join kids in our 2000+ expert-designed learning activities, like reading books, learning science, playing trivia, or creating their own stories. As kids grow, Heeyo adapts, offering more challenging and age-appropriate learning games. Kids can start playing with Heeyo from their first words, with content available up to age 11.

At the heart of our technology is an AI learning game generator, built on decades of research from educators, authors, psychologists, and neuroscientists. Using generative AI, it creates new learning games for kids. Our educator-led team develops activities based on current topics and age-appropriate curricula. Parents, educators, and kids can also design their own games by inputting the child's age and keywords, generating content based on family values or kids' latest interests like Bible trivia or treasure hunts. Our AI and content are personalized for each child and family!

During our beta with 100 kids, we have seen how much they love Heeyo. They enjoy interacting with their AI friends to learn about topics ranging from bulldozers and construction to dinosaurs and geology. To quote one parent: "I was initially skeptical about this AI thing and tried to test if it was safe. It's very age-appropriate, and seeing my 6-year-old being creative and making her own stories is so much better than mindless YouTube."

Today, we are announcing our seed financing by OpenAI Startup Fund, Amazon Alexa Fund, Pear VC, Charge Ventures, and others. We have raised a total of $3.5 million in combined seed and pre-seed funding to bring in new hires in product development and curriculum design. Our goal is to empower 1 billion kids to accomplish their wildest dreams leveraging AI, and we couldn't be more excited for what's ahead.