Sage Haven announces the launch of their safer messaging app for kids alongside $2 million in pre-seed funding led by top Silicon Valley investors. The app has over 15,000 parents on the waitlist. Cofounded by moms - serial tech entrepreneur, Kate Doerksen, and her sister, Anne Pizzuti - Sage Haven was inspired by a teen family member’s struggle with cyberbullying and mental health.

Cyberbullying Research Center’s 2025 survey showed 58% of teens reported experiencing cyberbullying at some point in their lifetimes with the prevalence of recent cyberbullying incidents having doubled between 2016 and 2025. This often starts in elementary school or early middle school when group chatting begins on watches, tablets and phones.

“This is the texting app parents have been waiting for,” said Sage Haven Cofounder, Anne Pizzuti. “Kid group chats are where kids are frequently exposed to online bullying, inappropriate content and are getting addicted to checking their devices constantly.”

Sage Haven is the first messaging app designed to address this head-on with AI moderation that is designed to block harmful messages before they are sent and nudge kids towards kindness. It also allows parents to approve every contact and monitor their child’s messages directly from their own phones, with the support of AI-powered alerts and conversation recaps. Sage Haven is thoughtfully designed for a child’s early messaging years, with built-in flexibility to gradually scale back supervision as they grow and gain independence.

Sage Haven works seamlessly with other messaging apps like iMessage, Google Messages, and with the messaging apps on kid-friendly mobile devices like Gizmo watches, Bark devices, Pinwheel devices, and more.

“When your kid uses Sage Haven, you get all of the benefits regardless of what other kids are using,” says Sage Haven cofounder, Kate Doerksen. “We use AI for good to help families build a slow, safe onramp to technology adoption. Our focus on watches and tablets also supports parents who want to delay giving their kids smartphone access.”

Hustle Fund, LaunchTN, NextBlue, Gaingels, ExitFund, a16z Scout Fund, Accel Scout Fund, Kleiner Perkins Scout Fund, and the cofounders of SoFi, Sift, Outschool, and more participated in the $2 million in pre-seed round.