When millions of Americans started social distancing due to the spread of coronavirus, Caribu co-founder and CEO Maxeme Tuchman (MBA/MPP 2012) didn’t hesitate to lift the paywall on her company’s interactive video-calling platform, which allows families to do engaging activities together in a video call.

“We could not live with ourselves if there was a child who couldn’t have a magical, memorable, experience with a grandparent because a parent had just lost their job and couldn’t pay the monthly fee,” explains Tuchman. “We’re a small, scrappy startup that had just closed a $3M seed round, so we had some runway.”

With Caribu, users can see and hear each other like in a traditional video call, but they can also read, draw, sing, or cook together using the in-app library full of age appropriate content and activities. Both parties in the video-call can see and interact with the same content on their respective screens. Launched in 2016 as a story app for young children, Caribu has since expanded to offer a variety of activities for kids up to age 13. The platform was named one of TIME magazine’s best inventions of 2019.

A former high school teacher who was also a Teach For America executive, Tuchman points out that traditional video-call technology wasn’t built for children. “Adults are fine spending hours on video-calls, talking and asking each other questions.” But kids have short attention spans and need to be active and engaged. “Children learn and build relationships through activity and play,” explains Tuchman. “And until Caribu, there really was no great way to do that virtually.”

Families can choose from more than 1,000 book titles in eight different languages, as well as games, puzzles, and other educational content. The company licenses content from big brands like Mattel, Baby Einstein, and Sesame Street, as well as up-and-coming indie authors that expose children to new cultures, characters, and stories. Caribu also builds its own content. For example, users can visit a museum together through virtual collections of art and architecture from around the world. “That’s something a grandparent and a child might do in person on a Saturday afternoon, but they can’t right now,” says Tuchman.

The app was originally inspired by a viral photo of a soldier trying to read a story to his daughter through a webcam. “It looked awkward and the soldier had to choose between looking at the book or his daughter,” explains Tuchman. “There had to be a better way.”

Caribu resonated immediately with parents who travel for work. “Think about the many HBS alumni who work in consulting and travel Monday through Thursday. They still want to read their kids a bedtime story,” says Tuchman. The platform quickly expanded to other audiences, such as divorced parents, grandparents, and other relatives.

The pandemic has created new use cases. “Young children who are stuck at home are using Caribu to have virtual playdates with their friends,” says Tuchman. “And parents who need a break are connecting their kids virtually with trusted contacts like nannies and babysitters.”

Since lifting the paywall, Caribu’s users and engagement have increased tenfold. The app has become a necessity to many families, says Tuchman, and she’s grateful that they’ve been able to help. “A family’s first priority is to stay safe, and their second priority is to stay sane,” she explains. “It's the best feeling in the world—seeing how our product is meeting a critical need, making kids' lives better, and keeping families better engaged and connected in a very difficult time.”

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