Menu Icon
Refresh Miami Logo
Search Icon
Sign Up Sign In

Zigazoo raises $17M celebrity-studded Series A to expand its positive, safe social network for kids

Nancy Dahlberg
Nancy Dahlberg
PinLinkedIn

The Miami startup sets sights on Web3 with backers including the NBA, Serena Williams, Jimmy Kimmel and others.

By Nancy Dahlberg

Zak and Leah Ringelstein founded Zigazoo in 2020 to create a safe, fun and positive social media environment for kids.

“We’re educators and parents who’ve been trying to make the world a better place for kids through technology and we are now the largest and safest social network for kids in the world,” said Zak Ringelstein, Zigazoo’s CEO, explaining that the Miami-based startup plays at the intersection of media, education and technology.

Now, with significant funding announced today and partnerships with some of the world’s largest children’s brands, the Ringelsteins said the startup is ready “to trailblaze a Web3 vision that empowers kids as creators.”  

Zigazoo announced it has closed an oversubscribed, celebrity-studded Series A of $17 million led by Liberty City Ventures. The round includes participation from new investors including the NBA, Causeway, whose partners include owners from the Boston Celtics and San Francisco 49ers, Dapper Labs, OneFootball, Medici VC, Animoca Brands, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Miami’s Flamingo Capital, Miami’s Core Ventures, Spartan Group and Charli and Dixie D’Amelio. Previous investors in the round include MaC Venture Capital, Serena Ventures, Talis Capital, Jimmy Kimmel, Wheelhouse Entertainment and others. To date, the startup has raised $21 million in venture capital.

Zigazoo is already a top-five kids app in the Apple App Store.  The startup recently dropped what it says is a first-of-its-kind NFT collections for kids. NFTs (non-funginble tokens) are a natural progression for the company because kids have always been collectors and traders, whether it’s baseball cards or Hot Wheels or dolls. The Ringelsteins, parents themselves, said an aha moment for the team was seeing kids trying to use the platform to collect and trade.

Therefore, the new capital will be used to propel the platform’s evolution into Web3 and emerging technologies such as augmented reality, while continuing to nurture responsible digital citizens, said Zak, in an interview with Refresh Miami. The funding will also fuel the creation of more tools for its users and a digital marketplace.

“Our Zigazooers aren’t just watching something or playing something. They are creating their own content. They are responding to challenges from the NBA or from Moonbug or from other kid creators and talent. We’re giving them more and more tools to not only build out their channels, but also build out their art collections and build out their ability to be creators,” said Zak, who built and exited an edtech company with Leah, his wife and a fellow former teacher, before they founded Zigazoo.

Zak Ringelstein, co-founder and CEO of Zigazoo

As part of readings or other appearances on the Zigazoo app, celebrities – Tiffany Haddish, Lebron James or Dolly Parton, for instance – or a brand such as  Nickelodeon, The NBA, Paramount, Apple TV+, Penguin Random House, Baby Einstein or Clifford the Big Red Dog, among others, make challenges, typically in the form of a question. Children have 30 seconds to make a creative video response, which is moderated and then shared with their community.

Think TikTok but with a positive-only commitment, Zak said. “One of our goals is to preserve childhood and to make anyone feel welcomed.” Zigazoo’s safety is lauded by children’s media advocacy organization Common Sense Media and is kidSAFE COPPA Certified.

Recently, Zigazoo sold out three NFT drops for kids within 48 hours with Moonbug Entertainment, the company behind the hit shows CoComelon and Blippi, Invisible Universe, the internet-first animation studio behind Qai Qai, and the acclaimed 13-year-old NFT artist Nyla Hayes, known for her Long Neckie Ladies. Zigazoo sees a significant opportunity within its platform to create more ways for kids to experience and learn about Web3 through activities and tools that promote digital and financial literacy.

“Zigazoo is a great example of social done right and  early Web3 onboarding for families. We met Zak and team when they first got to Miami and we’re excited to see this type of engaging tech being built in our backyard,” said Chris Adamo, co-founder of Flamingo Capital. 

With today’s social media platforms, kids were an afterthought and became detrimental to children, Zak explained. “We’ve been able to put kids first – we think about every company decision through a kids lens and we’re doing the same thing with our transition to web3.”

Investor Yagiz Sozmen of Core Ventures agrees. “The trajectory of social media adoption has gone drastically up and to the right over the past 10 years – even more so among kids. Zigazoo is tackling this issue by providing a safe social media platform specifically built for kids that promotes peer engagement as well as educational content.”

During the recent NFT.NYC conference, Zigazoo announced three contest winners, all Zigazoo users, who will drop their own art collections on Zigazoo. Expect more opportunities ahead.

Zigazoo’s target age group is 6 -12, although younger and older children have used it too. Leah is Head of Education, and the team currently numbers 18. Zigazoo has attracted over a million users in its short life.

“Miami is a wonderful place to build a business – I would argue there’s no place I’d rather build a web3 company, “ said Zak. The Ringelstein family moved to Miami from New York in 2021.

 Up next for the startup? Zak said to expect major drops in the next few months. “I can’t give away all the specifics but one of the biggest YouTube brands in the world for kids is going to drop NFTs. We’re going to be launching movies, we’re going to be launching major series on streaming platforms with NFTs.” Stay tuned.

Follow Nancy Dahlberg on Twitter @nadahlberg or email [email protected]

READ MORE ON REFRESH MIAMI

Nancy Dahlberg
Latest posts by Nancy Dahlberg (see all)