Bark Technologies, a global leader in the digital safety space, today announced the closing of a $30 million Series C financing round led by Kayne Partners, the growth private equity group of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, with participation from existing investors. This investment brings Bark’s total funding raised to date to $67 million. The company also announced that Leon Chen, Managing Partner at Kayne Partners, will join Bark’s board of directors.
Founded in 2015 by Brian Bason to help families work together to navigate the dangers of an ever-changing digital world, today Bark helps to protect nearly 6 million children online at home and in more than 3,200 schools and districts in the U.S., Guam, South Africa, and Australia. The Series C funding will be used to accelerate Bark’s international expansion, enable more strategic global partnerships, and further position Bark as a leader in the online safety space.
“We are thrilled to have Kayne Partners as a partner to help us offer even more families our online safety tools and resources,” said Brian Bason, founder and CEO of Bark. “In such an unpredictable world filled with far too many digital dangers that have greatly contributed to a youth mental health crisis, this funding is critical to our company’s mission and expansion to help protect more children online and in real life.”
Using highly sophisticated artificial intelligence, Bark alerts families to concerning behaviors in a variety of categories, including cyberbullying, depression, suicidal ideation, violence, and online predation. Bark monitors more than 30 of today’s most popular social media platforms and apps, as well as text messages, images, videos, chats, emails, and files. Families can also create custom screen time schedules, block websites and apps, and receive location alerts when kids are on the go. Bark even detects the nuanced ways kids communicate online via slang and emojis – including country-specific language differences – to help parents better understand their children and detect crises often masked in teen/tween speak.
“Kayne Capital prides itself on carefully selecting partners who are both leaders as well as responsible stewards in their areas of expertise,” said Leon Chen. “Bark is changing the world for the better by using technology for social good. We are proud to partner with a cause-driven organization that not only helps to protect children but also educates and empowers families while modeling behaviors of responsible digital citizens.”
Recent highlights for the company include:
- Announced partnerships with Cricket Wireless, C Spire, and Calix.
- Expanded its safety tools to Guam, South Africa, and Australia.
- Released its 2021 Annual Report after analyzing more than 3.4 billion messages across texts, email, and 30+ apps and social media platforms to identify concerning trends in online behavior among children ages 10–17.
- Collaborated with The Centers for Disease Control on a First-Ever Study Linking Past Online Behavior in Youth to Future Events of Suicide and Self-Harm.
- Received the prestigious 2022 Social Media Safety Technology Award from the Organization for Social Media Safety.
- Served as a trusted data source for news segments featured on CNN, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, as well as in The New York Times, Washington Post, Tech Crunch, Business Insider, and more.
- Launched a successful “Tech Bytes”video series, offering tips and resources for families on how to safeguard their children’s devices.
- Increased awareness of common digital dangers with virtual and in-person screenings of the acclaimed documentary Childhood 2.0.
- Grew its active Parenting in a Tech World Facebook group to more than 190,000 active members.
For more information on Bark Technologies, visit www.bark.us.
About Bark
Bark helps families manage and protect their children’s digital lives. The award-winning service monitors 30+ of the most popular apps and social media platforms for signs of issues like cyberbullying, suicidal ideation, online predators, threats of violence, and more. Bark’s web filtering and screen time management tools empower families to set healthy limits around the websites and apps their kids can access and when they can visit them. Visit www.bark.us for more information.
About Kayne Partners
Kayne Partners, the Los Angeles-based dedicated growth private equity group of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P., leverages its large firm resources to partner and invest in lower middle market, privately held, high growth, enterprise software and tech-enabled service businesses across North America. The team has developed a durable and repeatable investment strategy and process for applying its stage expertise through sourcing and investing in companies at an early inflection point, adding value and scaling through organic growth and M&A, and exiting these must-have assets to strategics & financial sponsors. The team has experience investing across media & telecommunications, supply chain & logistics, financial technology, healthcare IT, security & compliance, and business process outsourcing and automation. For more information, please visit www.kaynepartners.com.
About Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors
Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P., founded in 1984, is a leading alternative investment management firm focused on real estate, credit, infrastructure/energy, renewables, and growth equity. Kayne’s investment philosophy is to pursue niches, with an emphasis on cash flow, where our knowledge and sourcing advantages enable us to deliver above average, risk-adjusted investment returns. As responsible stewards of capital, Kayne’s philosophy extends to promoting responsible investment practices and sustainable business practices to create long-term value for our investors. Kayne manages $32 billion in assets (as of 3/31/2022) for institutional investors, family offices, high net worth and retail clients and employs 325 professionals in five core offices across the U.S. www.kaynecapital.com
