The funding round was spearheaded by SMOK Ventures, a US-based fund focusing on Central and Eastern European founders, alongside notable investors including Andrey Avsievich, an angel investor with six successful exits, Dmitry Smirnov, a Partner at Flint Capital known for its early investment in the health startup Flo, and Ilya Lesun, former CEO of Vochi, which was acquired by Pinterest, all contributing as business angels. The investment will be allocated towards product development and improvement, increasing user base, and venturing into new markets internationally.

Established by Belarusian expats Helene Malyutina (CEO) and Darya Kolkovskaya (COO), who are both seasoned entrepreneurs and mothers of two, FAMS is rooted in substantial expertise. With Darya's over a decade of experience as a practising family psychologist and the involvement of certified professionals as consultants, the app guarantees parents access to validated strategies for addressing common parenting challenges, tailored programmes to foster children's development, and engaging activities to cultivate positive habits. Furthermore, FAMS offers a dedicated AI chatbot, providing round-the-clock support.

“Each of our investment decisions starts with the founding team. Helene is determined, eager to learn, analytical, and has a gift of attracting awesome people, all the traits required to be successful as a founder,” said Borys Musielak, Founding Partner at SMOK.VC. “The parenting app market is crowded with low-quality content, and I believe that FAMS has a chance to build something bigger than that: a global community, a safe place for parents to learn, exchange information, and connect with each other, a long-awaited manual for your child.”

Today millennials make up 80% of parents with children under 12 and Gen Z is predicted to be the majority of first-time parents in the US before 2025. With modern parents having technologies and gadgets deeply integrated into their everyday lives, AI parenting assistants and family bonding apps have a big market potential. As more millennials and Gen Zs become moms and dads, the parenting psychology market, which makes up about $91.4 Billion, is steadily transferring from traditional family counselling, online services, courses and webinars into fast-access mobile solutions.  

Helene Malyutina, founder of FAMS, commented: “We live in a truly amazing time, when every family has a unity, and every family member individually has opportunities to reveal their full potential. The FAMS app offers a new way of understanding and managing the emotional climate in the family through learning with interactive stories. We do not teach parents how to live and what to do. Instead, we give them a choice and with the help of a simulator show them the consequences of their everyday communication choices.”