'No Microphones, No Cameras, No Ads' — Mark Zuckerberg's Unusual New Venture

Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire behind Facebook, is investing in Yoto, a company that makes screenless audio players for kids. His investment fund, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, is part of an £18 million ($22 million) funding round that also includes famous investor Sir Paul McCartney.

Zuckerberg's fund and other new investors invested roughly $11 million, while the rest came from existing investors and share sales.

Yoto was founded in 2015 by Ben Drury and Filip Denker and is now worth about $182 million. Its main product, the $100 Yoto Player, is designed for kids aged three to twelve. It can be used without a phone by inserting audio cards to listen to stories, podcasts, music, and other content. 

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The founders started Yoto because they were concerned about how too much screen time could negatively affect kids, leading to problems like trouble sleeping and poor motor skills. They wanted to create a device that children could use safely and on their own.

Thus, the company promotes the player as a way for kids to choose what they listen to without using a smartphone or seeing any ads.

The idea of limiting screen time isn't new among tech leaders. They routinely ban their kids from using devices and apps they themselves created. Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, reportedly didn't let his kids use much technology and even banned them from using the newly released iPad. 

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Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, also set strict rules about screen time and didn’t allow his kids to have phones until they turned 14. Mark Zuckerberg told his daughter to spend more time outside, encouraging her to experience the world around her while billions of others use his social media apps daily. 

One statistic from the Common Sense Media Census about the usage of devices and social media says that teens in the United States spend an average of around eight and a half hours per day on screens for entertainment, not including time spent on schoolwork. 

From 2015 to 2019, the time kids spent using media increased slowly — only 3% for tweens and 11% for teens. But between 2019 and 2021, media use jumped by 17% for both groups. Now, kids aged eight to 12 spend about five and a half hours on screens, while teens aged 13 to 18 spend about eight and a half hours daily.

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