Famigo brings family-focused entertainment (and parental sanity) to GM connected cars

Mobile devices are popular for keeping children engaged during long stretches of boring grownup activities. Of course, you need an adult around to make sure kids aren’t accessing anything inappropriate. But if that adult has to keep their eyes on the road while driving, they’ll need a service like Famigo.

Famigo is sort of a virtual babysitter that parents can use to ensure all the content available on connected iOS and Android mobile devices is age-appropriate, meaning kids can still access family friendly movies, TV shows, books, and games approved by Famigo. Content and apps are arranged by category, and parents can even specify a folder for content and apps outside of the Famigo system that they trust to be family friendly. Famigo also blocks in-app purchases, app downloads, and device settings that are unnecessary for consuming content.

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And today, the startup is announcing that its service is coming to the entire 2015 line of General Motors connected cars, thus providing some much-needed sanity to parents.

Those with a monthly subscription to OnStar, GM’s Internet service for vehicles, will get free access to Famigo, as will anyone who purchases a new 2015 GM connected car. Alternately, AT&T customers with an OnStar-ready GM car can add Famigo to their monthly cell phone bill for $10. OnStar customers will also gain access to exclusive Famigo content built for connected vehicles, according to the startup.

“Famigo needs to be as omnipresent as kids on smartphones. We want to make it safe, fun, and educational for kids every time they are on a mobile device,” Famigo CEO Q Beck told VentureBeat, adding that this especially includes connected vehicles.

I can see how a service like Famigo would be very valuable to parents, mostly because my brother and I were not exactly delightful on any car ride longer than a half hour. And on the business end, it seems like a pretty lucrative deal for Famigo because the service exists beyond connected cars. Famigo offers a free (but limited) tier, a $1 per month basic tier, and a $5 per month “Plus” tier with access to educational content, ebooks, and games.

Founded in 2010, the Austin, Texas-based startup has raised $2 million in seed funding to date from Capital Factory, Liahona Ventures, Silverton Partners, and Zilker Ventures.