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Maka Kids
Maka Kids is a Detroit-based children's media company building an ad-free, algorithm-free streaming app for kids ages 0 to 6. Founded in 2023 by Isabel Sheinman and Tanyella Leta, the company designs screen time around child well-being rather than engagement. Every piece of content is scored against Maka Imprint, a patent-pending developmental framework built over two years of research with the Yale Child Study Center that maps seven domains of early childhood development across more than 650 indicators. Maka raised $3 million in seed funding led by Michigan Rise in May 2026.
Isabel Sheinman
Isabel Sheinman is the co-founder and CEO of Maka Kids, a Detroit-based children's media company building an ad-free, algorithm-free streaming app for kids ages zero to six that is optimized for child well-being rather than watch-time. Before Maka, she co-founded NABU, a global literacy nonprofit that has put early-grade reading materials in front of more than 15 million children across 26 countries. With a decade spent at the intersection of education, technology, and social impact - and a resume that runs through Georgetown, NYU Stern, and Mastercard - Sheinman is wagering that the most valuable thing a screen can offer a small child is restraint.