Tin Can has struck a chord — with parents, kids, and now venture capitalists.
The Seattle startup behind a landline-style telephone for kids has raised $3.5 million from PSL Ventures, Newfund Capital, Mother Ventures, and Solid Foundations.
“I think you can legitimately say Tin Can is one of the fastest growing and most viral businesses I have seen in more than 25 years of venture investing,” Greg Gottesman, managing director at Seattle-based PSL, told GeekWire.
We first spotlighted Tin Can in April, just as the company was getting off the ground. Its colorful WiFi-enabled landline phones — shaped like oversized tin cans — let kids talk to one another without screens, texting and apps.
The 7-person company quickly sold out its first two batches of products and is now taking pre-orders for shipments in December.
“We started by building a phone just for our own kids, and it’s been amazing to see that snowball into something much bigger that clearly resonates with families everywhere,” said Tin Can co-founder and CEO Chet Kittleson.
The company declined to share specific revenue or sales metrics.
Tin Can’s early success comes amid mounting concern over the impact of smartphones and social media on kids’ mental health, attention spans, and social development.
“Parents everywhere are grappling with how to give their kids independence without handing them the internet too soon,” Kittleson said. “That cultural shift — away from screens and toward more analogue forms of connection — has been a huge tailwind for us.”
Tin Can phones are priced at $75 and sold directly to families. Parents can choose between two calling plans — a free version that allows calling to other Tin Can devices, and a $9.99/month version that enables calls to approved outside numbers (cell phones, landlines).
A companion mobile app lets parents manage contacts. Only approved numbers can get through, blocking robocalls or strangers. Quiet hours can disable calls and there’s voicemail capability — which Tin Can calls an “answering machine.” Tin Can also supports 911 emergency calling that can be enabled in the mobile app.
Kittleson said the device helps relieve parents’ anxiety about the risks that come with smartphones and apps.
“And kids love it because it feels like their very own phone,” he said. There are fun easter egg surprises, such as dialing “HAHA” for a daily joke or “WORD” for a daily definition.
Kittleson said even grandparents say calls with Tin Can phones are “more thoughtful, more focused” — especially compared to “dizzying FaceTime tours of the living room.”
Kittleson founded Tin Can with Graeme Davies and Max Blumen, his former colleauges at Seattle real estate startup Far Homes, which shut down last year.
Vivek Ladsariya, managing director at PSL, praised the company’s mission-driven approach.
“It shows in the product, messaging, and branding and it’s why customers love them,” Ladsariya said. “They want kids to live in an analog world and as I think of my brand new daughter that’s what I want for her.”
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