Seattle-based Littlebird is taking some of the guesswork out of caring for toddlers.
The hardware technology company makes a wristband for toddlers that tracks their location, whom they are with and biometric data like heart rate. Littlebird founder and CEO Monica Plath said she was prompted by some of the archaic ways parents keep track of their kids.
"Everything in my house is connected," Plath said. "I know where my dog is on a walk with Rover and Wag. I know where my friends are. I know where my family is, but my toddler is somehow that last person who isn't tracked."
The Littlebird wristband, called the Toddler CareTracker, doesn't have a screen, Plath said, to avoid overexposing toddlers to screens. The wristband comes with a child lock so only adults can remove them. Littlebird also offers an app so parents can communicate with caregivers and see photos. In addition to GPS data and heart rate, the wristband provides sleep and activity data.
Plath, a mother of two, said the idea for Littlebird spawned from an incident when her toddler was missing from the crib. Although everything turned out fine, she said the incident inspired her to find a better solution to tracking kids.
Plath said she is aware of the balance between providing more information and fear-mongering, as too much information could lead to more anxiety and over-parenting. She added that Littlebird is staying away from alerts and focusing solely on the information and biometrics to avoid that trap.
In addition to Plath, Littlebird's other full-time employee is Megan Colarossi, the company's director of media and communications. The company also has about a dozen contractors spread around the world, according to Plath.
Littlebird, which was founded in 2020, has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding, including from former T-Mobile Chief Financial Officer Braxton Carter. Plath said the company is looking to close its seed round but didn't give specifics. She added that the company will look to grow its team after closing its next round.
Plath and Colarossi, who also lives in Seattle, work out of the coworking space The Collective in South Lake Union. Littlebird doesn't plan to change its physical footprint anytime soon, Plath said. As for the company's product, Littlebird is currently available on a waiting list and aims to ship this holiday season, according to Plath.
"We're in our final form factor. It looks great and feels great," Plath said. "(We're) just working through use-case scenarios and making sure that we've uncovered the last little bits of conversation."
