Bark, an Atlanta software startup that monitors kids' internet usage for potential threats, has raised $5.6 million of a planned $6 million round of funding from three investors.
Though investors were not listed in this funding announcement, Signal Peak Ventures Managing Director Brandon Tidwell was named among the related parties on the startup's SEC filing. The VC firm led Bark's $9 million Series A round in 2018.
Image Credit: Bark
The monthly subscription service for parents was founded in 2015 and created in collaboration with child psychologists, youth advisors, digital media experts and law enforcement professionals. Using machine learning, Bark’s software will scan the context of children’s text messages, social media accounts and email for cyberbullying, internet predators, depression, suicidal thoughts and sexting.
One of Bark's primary goals is to make parents make them aware of the ramifications of their children’s online activity. Some of that next steps advice after a parent is notified of certain behaviors include being non-confrontational and talking with their children about what these decisions can mean for their future. Taking away a phone or a digital device isn’t always the answer, the startup says.
Bark offers a monthly or annual subscription rate for parents that monitors across 25 platforms. However, the startup offers Bark for Schools for free.
Following the high school shooting in Parkland, Fla. last year, Bark announced it was offering its platform for free to any school using Google’s G Suite for Education. In 2018, Bark rolled out the same functionality for schools using Microsoft Office 365 Education. This technology proactively alerts school administrators to issues detected in school-issued student email, chat, documents and cloud storage.
Atlanta Business Chronicle in April ranked Bark as the metro area's 16th fastest-growing private company. Bark also went through the Techstars Atlanta accelerator program in 2016.
