Participated · Equity · Jun 2018

Dynepic develops playPORTAL, a platform and cross-platform SDKs that let developers create child privacy-certified, secure apps backed by a kid-safe family network. Its tooling provides instant COPPA compliance so game developers, app developers and toy-makers can focus on product while playPORTAL handles data security and privacy. The company plans to use recent funding for marketing and engineering to expand the playPORTAL platform and grow its developer community of innovators, toy makers, and brands. Dynepic completed the Techstars Boulder program and is led by CEO and co-founder Krissa Watry. As of this raise the company has $1.5M in total funding. The company is based in Charleston, SC. Dynepic has developed iOKids, a secure social gateway and single sign-on that enables companies to build community experiences for children under 13 while keeping brands COPPA-compliant. The platform centers on parent-managed iOKids profiles and friend lists and includes an iOKids Parent app for parental consent and management. Dynepic planned a suite of iOKids apps that allow kids to build friend lists and even 'Chat with Santa,' with the apps scheduled to be available in the app store before Thanksgiving. The company received initial funding from the National Science Foundation. In November 2016 Dynepic won a $100,000 investment from The Charleston Angel Conference, an award the company said completed its oversubscribed initial financing round. That initial round totaled close to $500,000 from investors in the Charleston area and from across the U.S., including investors from Atlanta, Silicon Valley, Connecticut, and New York. Dynepic is developing an open IoToys platform and a connected toy called the DynePod to teach technology and engineering skills through physical play. The DynePod is a small Bluetooth Low Energy box with an LED display, sensors (motion and proximity), vibration/buzzer feedback and Arduino programmability, and can clip to objects or be worn. The product supports standalone tablet programming, peer-to-peer play with other DynePods, acting as a controller for tablet games, and a fully connected mode that links to cloud services via open APIs. Co-founder Krissa Watry is an MIT graduate and former U.S. Air Force chief engineer; the other co-founder has a background in early years education. Dynepic has previously secured nearly $200,000 from a National Science Foundation grant plus $50,000 in match funding from the South Carolina Research Association. The company has launched a Kickstarter to raise $30,000 to complete production, child-safety testing, FCC approval, and finalize its cloud APIs; early-bird backer pricing is $79 and, if funded, Dynepic aims to ship to backers next June.