k-ID, in addition to its substantial Series A funding, was selected as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer 2024. It joins the ranks of esteemed alumni such as early-stage Google, Airbnb, and others. Only 100 companies are selected each year to be part of the WEF Technology Pioneers group based on their ability to transform industries and societies.
The game publishers that integrate k-ID are the companies that provide games and online experiences to hundreds of millions of children and teens around the globe every day. This includes popular experiences from the world’s biggest public and private gaming companies.
“The time to change is now. Today, the world demands safer and more empowered online experiences. My childhood trauma inspired me to create kID,” said Kieran Doovan, cofounder and CEO at kID. “The groundswell support from across the sector has been phenomenal. We are excited to accelerate the mission of bringing youth-first, privacy-preserving technology that meets the societal imperative to empower the next generation.
k-ID announced today a partnership to further its affiliation and support in the industry. k-ID’s parent/family portal and developer portal have been configured to reflect the COPPA requirements of the program. This partnership allows game publishers to use k-ID’s technology to obtain the ESRB Privacy Certified Kids Seal.
Kieran Doovan, Timothy Ma Julian Corbett, and Jeff Wu founded k-ID with a mission centered around youth empowerment. The k-ID team has deep expertise in games and legal compliance, trust and safety, and comes from Meta, Tencent and Google. The company emerged from stealth mode in March 2024 and is quickly establishing itself as a promising and fast-growing start-up in the world.
INVESTOR PERSPECTIVES
Jonathan Lai, General partner at a16z, said: “Kids make friends and create countless memories in games and virtual worlds. Parents need modern tools to protect them.” “k-ID is meeting this need and defining a standard for digital safety for youth.” We invested in kID as a pre-seed via SPEEDRUN and are thrilled to continue our support of them, as they make digital communities safe for kids and their parents.
“It’s rare to find this combination of unique founder-market fit, societal impact, and-most impressively-commercial traction,” said Moritz Baier-Lentz, Partner and Head of Gaming & Interactive Media at Lightspeed, who is joining the company’s board of directors. “Clearly, kID is solving a huge challenge for publishers, teens, and children worldwide. This partnership was made more meaningful by my decision to enter into it during my parental leave.
Austin Arensberg is Senior Director at Okta Ventures. “There are more than 2 billion people under 18 years old, and their digital identity must be protected,” he said. “Kids are unique in their authentication and authorization needs, and kID’s robust and innovative approach ensures safe online digital access to digital assets and games. We are incredibly impressed with the team and excited about what lies ahead.”
“Publishers are facing new challenges as they grow their user base below the age of 18, and comply with global compliance standards. We believe kID’s innovative solution will streamline the challenges posed to publishers by the ever-changing regulatory environment and create a safer online experience for our kids and teenagers,” said Hyung KIM from Z Venture Capital (a merged entity of LINE Japan and Yahoo Japan).
k-ID, a pioneering company in the field of online gaming for kids, will be attending the Summer Davos (15th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting) in China as well as the Games for Change Festival in New York (the premier event for socially impact gaming). Both events are taking place at the end June.
Click here for more information and assets .
ABOUT
k-ID
k-ID, a cross-platform instant sign-on solution built for kids and teens, is an all-in one solution to the complex issue of online safety and privacy for young players. Founded by experts and leaders internationally recognized in online safety, gaming, and privacy, kID also uses insights from current and previous regulators to maintain the most dynamic compliance platform for games developers. k-ID gives kids and teens access to age-appropriate, enriching experiences while giving parents peace of mind. For more information visit www.k-id.com.
Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz, aka a16z, is a venture-capital firm that supports entrepreneurs who are building the future with technology. We are not stage-specific. We invest in seed-stage to growth-stage tech companies across AI, bio + health, consumer, cryptos, enterprise, fintechs, games, infrastructure and companies that are building towards American dynamism. a16z manages USD 42B across multiple funds. Learn more about at a16z.com/games.
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed is the world’s leading venture capital firm in the U.S.A., Europe and Asia with USD 29 billion in assets under management. Over the last 20 years, Lightspeed partnered with hundreds entrepreneurs to help build companies that have achieved 200+ IPOs or acquisitions. In 2023, Lightspeed ranked as the #1 gaming lead investor based on deal volume.
The firm’s dedicated gaming and interactive media practice invests from a pool of over USD 6.5 billion in early-stage capital, making it the largest fund set in the sector. Lightspeed’s team brings together deep gaming, consumer and enterprise technology expertise, a global multistage investing platform, and a culture which puts founders at the forefront. Focus areas include game studios (PCs, consoles, mobile), interactive platforms (social, UGCs, distribution, streaming), as well as related technologies (AI/MLs, 3Ds, engines, game development and AR/VR). Visit gaming.lsvp.com for more information.
Okta
Okta is a global identity company. As the leading independent Identity Partner, we enable everyone to safely use any technology, anywhere, on any device or application. Okta is trusted by the most trusted brands to provide secure access, authentication and automation. Our Okta Workforce Identity Cloud and Customer Identity Clouds are built with flexibility and neutrality in mind. This allows business leaders and developers to focus on innovation, accelerate digital transformation and focus on their core competencies. We’re creating a world in which Identity belongs to you. Learn more about Okta.com.
Z Venture Capital
Z Venture Capital is the corporate venture capital arm for LY Corporation (an integrated entity of Z Holdings/LINE/Yahoo Japan etc.). Z Venture Capital is the corporate venture capital arm of LY Corporation (an integrated entity of Z Holdings/LINE/Yahoo Japan, etc.). It supports startups with global potential. ZVC is the successor company to YJ Capital Inc. which was founded in August 2012. It was merged with LINE Ventures Corp. in April 2021.
Privacy Certified by ESRB
ESRB Privacy certified, a division within the non-profit Entertainment Software Rating Board is a full-service privacy certification and compliance program. It helps its members – mainly companies in the video games and toy industries – adopt and implement transparent, lawful and responsible privacy practices. ESRB serves as one of six Federal Trade Commission-authorized Safe Harbor programs under the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Learn more at https://www.esrb.org/privacy/.
(ADVERTISEMENT DISCLAIMER) The above press release was provided by PRNewswire. ANI is not responsible for the content.
This story was automatically generated from a syndicated RSS feed. ThePrint is not responsible for the content of this story.