London-based startup, Orbiri, has raised £320,000 in an oversubscribed angel funding round to support the launch of its community-powered platform designed to help parents and schools manage children’s screen time.
The round was supported by a syndicate of angel investors alongside 14 individual backers. This follows an earlier £45,000 seed round.
Founded by parents Jason Michaelides and Alessandro Agosto, Orbiri offers a platform that enables children, parents and schools to coordinate around shared digital limits, rather than leaving individual families to enforce boundaries alone.
The company is addressing a growing challenge facing parents and schools. While 93 per cent of parents believe social media harms children, 74 per cent agree that enforcing limits on smartphone use “feels impossible”, according to the company.
Rather than imposing strict device bans or relying on traditional parental controls, Orbiri’s approach centres on collective action. The platform allows schools and families to align around shared screen time boundaries that apply to everyone in the community, turning peer pressure into a positive influence.
Jason Michaelides, founder and CEO of Orbiri, said:
“Every parent knows the feeling of being stuck in daily device battles – you set the rules for your child but their friends don’t have any, so suddenly you’re the mean parent. But I know from experience with my own children and their screen time that these rules are absolutely essential not just to preserve the conditions necessary for healthy childhood development, but to teach them good digital habits that’ll protect them while they’re online. That’s ultimately why I left a career in consulting to found Orbiri. I genuinely believe that you can’t win as a parent acting alone – we’re facing a systemic challenge that requires collective action.”
Michaelides explained that children often resist limits when they feel isolated in having them, but respond differently when boundaries are shared across their community:
“Kids don’t hate limits – there’s growing evidence that many children actually want them. What they hate is being the only one with limits.”
He added that when a child’s school, their friends’ families and their household all align around the same boundaries, children stop fighting the restrictions because they are not alone in having them.
The funding announcement comes as schools in England enforce phone bans and policymakers consider age restrictions similar to those being introduced in Australia. However, Orbiri emphasises that effective change comes from community coordination rather than top-down mandates.
Michaelides also noted that smartphones offer practical benefits over basic phones for tasks such as managing pocket money, planning travel and tracking exercise, arguing that embedding good usage practices across whole communities is a more effective approach than outright bans.
Orbiri will use the angel funding to complete product development, gain compliance certifications and run trial programmes with early-adopter schools ahead of a full launch planned for next year.
The company operates in the mental health sector, focusing on supporting families and communities to manage children’s digital habits and protect wellbeing.
