The Wi-Fi-enabled Tin Can landline phones were launched in April 2025 and sold hundreds of thousands of units|Giphy
While parents and lawmakers search for alternatives to smartphones for kids, a Seattle-based startup is finding success with a landline-inspired device called Tin Can.
Launched in April 2025, the $100 Wi-Fi-enabled device has sold hundreds of thousands of units. It offers free calls between Tin Cans and to emergency services, with a $10 monthly subscription available for parent-approved external numbers.
CEO Chet Kittleson, a father himself, attributes the phone’s success to Gen X and millennial parents’ nostalgia and their search for digital wellness. He told Bloomberg that he created the device to improve children’s communication skills in the age of social media, texts, and video calls.
Schools are buying them too. About 95% of families at Nativity Parish School outside Kansas City have adopted the tech.
The company recently secured a $12 million seed round led by Greylock Partners following a $3.5 million fundraising effort. It is scaling to meet “overwhelming demand” from educational institutions across the US and Canada.