This fast growing startup is founded and created in typical garage setting from a small regional alpine town in New Zealand, Wanaka. They created a safe and simple “one-click” app developed to create stronger relationships within the modern family through photos and messaging: kin2kin
Unique Private Photo And Messaging For The Whole Family
kin2kin is a free, private photo and messaging app for family. It is designed to include the 3 members of a family group who are most difficult to connect:
– Grandparents with family across many households
– Busy parents who need both speed and security
– Kids too young for Facebook, who may not have a device
Their mission is to make the world a happier place, one family at a time.
Free App – Apple – Google – Website
How it works:
1. Everyone has a unique and organized view of family on their home page:
– Grandparents can see all grandchildren and family in one place
2. Photos are organized by who is in the photo:
– Photos of the child from the parent or relative are both saved in the same place
3. You respond to the person in the photo, not just the sender:
– Parents can trigger stronger direct relationships for their kids with family
4. You can share a household device:
– For kids without a device, and grandparents with a single household device
5. Kids under 16 have accounts and a network managed by their parents:
– Safe for kids to connect with closest family privately
6. Unique network per household:
– Parents control who can see their kids; family or friends
7. Naturally overlapping family networks:
– Grandchildren share some grandparents and relatives and not others
8. Weekly email updates:
– The Family Times keeps those who haven’t checked the app for a while up to date
Who is it for?
Kin2kin is focused on solving the needs of grandparents, busy parents, and younger grandchildren. kin2kin also has unique solutions for:
The new mum
Who can post as many photos as she wants in a unique private feed for the new baby
The teenager
Who wants a separate place for family and friends
Godparents
Who want a direct relationship (managed by parents) within the unique household network
Family friends
Who are as-good-as-kin to the household, but not needing to be connected to the wider family
Divorced grandparents
– Who would like to be connected to grandkids without connecting to each other
Re-married grandparents
Who appreciate a blended view of combined grandchildren and family for their household
How is kin2kin different?
Their focus is purely family.
They don’t aim to compete with mainstream social media as they have different purposes; friends, hobbies, colleagues, team-mates, the world. Our purpose is connecting families.
Hamish McGregor founded the app in October 2014 when he noticed a gap in the market for a solution that was not just about photo updates but that had real interactions at the core. Designed not to compete against but to complement social media, it is a private platform that aims to trigger conversations and deliver those long-term benefits of staying and feeling connected to your family, whether you are living on opposite sides of the world, a grandparent who wants to keep up with the grandkids’ activities or you are part of one of those complex families. Simple for grandparents, efficient for busy parents and safe for younger kids.
The app was officially launched in March 2016 and it has so far been downloaded in 51 countries counting 5,000 users. Backed up by a group of talented Kiwi tech innovators, including the app developer Stu Sharpe, the Emmy award winner for America’s cup in April 2014, and a group of accomplished investors such as eftpos founder Peter Marshall, kin2kin has had a 30% organic growth a month, and has raised 1.5M privately in 2015, planning to close the private round at 2M in 2016.
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