Yarnie
Their first phone. Not their first smartphone
At a glance
-
Development stage
Active / generating revenue
-
Investment stage
Pre-Seed
-
Commercialisation pathway
UNSW Founders startup
-
Technology readiness level
TRL 9
Yarnie gives children a safe, screen-free way to stay connected with family and friends.
-
Yarnie is a screen-free phone that plugs into home Wi-Fi: no SIM, and it works globally. A child picks it up and dials. Parents control the address book; nobody else can call in. Relatives answer anywhere in the world on our free iOS and Android app, so they buy nothing. Families pay once for the device, then a monthly subscription for network access. Calls run over the internet, so gross margin on calling exceeds 95%. 60 •
-
Parents are putting off the use of smartphones. Schools ban them. Homes ban them. The ban solved one problem and created another. A nine-year-old still wants to talk to their friends and grandmother, and right now the only options are to borrow a parent's phone or nothing at all.
-
Parents of kids aged 5 to 12. The pull is strongest where friends and family reside across multiple countries.
-
- Used in 17 countries with no marketing spend
- Each new account adds 3 family members within 24 hours
- 2,000+ calls this month, growing week-on-week
Discover more UNSW spinouts
Search our catalogue of active spinouts and tech for license.