DIY.org, a transmedia company in the learning space for kids, is a strong believer in the power of good screen time. What started as an online learning community has now expanded its content portfolio to launch DIY TV, an S-VOD platform exclusively for kids.
Content consumption patterns have altered in keeping with the circumstances emerging from the pandemic. And so, a hard truth hits most parents – there is no avoiding screen time for kids. While many would prefer to engage on social media platforms and use OTT platforms, it calls into question the safety of kids in this high-exposure digital space.
For parents, and for the team at DIY, it’s not about providing just about any content for consumption alone, but working to curate content that inspires action, exploration, and learning, which can be re-shared within a safe community of like-minded and like-aged users; and this is where DIY comes in.
The DIY vision is to introduce the next generation to specially curated, age-appropriate, global content designed to inspire learning and exploration through active consumption of content.
The content offered on DIY TV, as part of the opening slate, is a mix of live-action and animation in the fiction and non-fiction spaces. DIY TV brings a twist to content viewing, where kids can try exciting challenges, related to the content after they watch the shows on the platform. In sharing their learnings from the shows and challenge attempts with fellow DIYers, kids can enhance their viewing experience in a community setting.
Unlike any other EdTech startup, DIY is all about making learning social for kids, focusing on those between the ages of seven and 13 years. DIY has strong product-led growth, propelled by the content landscape, which allows the company to scale exponentially, as a global tech business built out of India, which is rare for a consumer-led subscription business outside of the B2B space.
“Bringing DIY TV within the product that’s geared towards EdTech is a big bold bet we are making as a company, both from a learning perspective and as a business model. We are constantly understanding more about how kids interact with content and technology, and since our acquisition of DIY earlier this year, we have been able to grow 7x in just the last six-to-eight months, finding a product-market fit with a change in model,” says DIY.org CEO and co-founder Bhavik Rathod.
In fact, the changing understanding of how kids consume content today is what powers DIY to explore new content arenas, like DIY TV.
DIY.org COO and co founder Tripti Ahuja said, “There’s no hiding from the fact that kids now consume content across different formats, and our endeavor at DIY is to explore the “whys” of it all, and we hope to give kids access to the content they can take inspiration from, and tie it back to the see-do-share model that has been so successful on the platform for so many years. In a year alone, DIY has been able to grow globally, capture a wider audience, and has increased its content offering, with the introduction of DIY TV – all within a safe digital environment that kids can access and enjoy, and learn from.”
DIY’s content has inspired over 700,000 kids and families from over 160+ countries to discover new skills and explore new areas of project-based learning. With the introduction of DIY TV and the potential to scale, there’s much to explore in the way DIY can impact the way kids consume content online in a safe community environment.
