Founded by sisters and moms Kate Doerksen and Anne Pizzuti, Sage Haven is a new AI-powered messaging and calling app designed to help kids safely navigate their earliest digital interactions. The platform aims to prevent cyberbullying before it starts by blocking harmful content, coaching kinder communication, and giving parents visibility into concerning behavior without requiring them to constantly monitor every message.
Screen time is starting earlier than ever before. From smartphones and tablets to watches and gaming devices, kids now have access to digital communication tools at increasingly younger ages.
Then come the group chats, text threads, voice messages and online interactions that increasingly shape childhood friendships and social dynamics.
“The challenges around navigating technology for kids seem almost overwhelming at first,” says Kate Doerksen, co-founder of Sage Haven. “What bubbled to the top was a lot of pain around group chats where kids are frequently exposed to online bullying, inappropriate content and are getting addicted to checking their devices constantly.”
Sage Haven was inspired by a deeply personal family experience. A teenage family member experienced severe cyberbullying and exposure to harmful online content that contributed to a serious mental health crisis.
The experience forced the sisters to think more critically about how early digital communication now begins for kids and how few tools truly prioritize children’s wellbeing.
“We are also both moms with kids in elementary school. Navigating technology was a recurring conversation with our mom friends and it was clear there was a huge lack of trust in existing solutions which are designed for adults and don’t have our kid’s best interests at heart,” says Doerksen. “We decided to build the digital solutions we wanted for our own families and create a new cohort of kids that have a much healthier relationship to technology and each other.”
The result was Sage Haven, a platform focused on making kids’ earliest messaging experiences safer while helping families build healthier digital habits from the start.
Sage Haven gives parents AI-powered summaries and alerts about concerning behavior without requiring them to monitor every individual message manually. The platform also integrates with existing messaging systems, allowing kids to communicate with friends and family even if the other person does not use the app.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: Sage Haven’s founders knew it would be difficult to convince everyone to download a new app, so they created a unique interoperable model designed to work alongside existing messaging platforms. Each child receives a dedicated Sage Haven number that friends and family can message or call. Those messages and calls are then routed through the Sage Haven app. This allows parents, grandparents, friends, and classmates to continue using platforms like iMessage or Google Messages while children receive those communications safely through Sage Haven.
Multiple studies show cyberbullying continues to rise among children and teens. But according to Sage Haven’s founders, many of these harmful behaviors begin long before traditional social media enters the picture.
Instead, younger children are often first exposed to online conflict through group chats, direct messaging, gaming platforms, tablets, and smartwatches.
“We understand that parents have good reasons to allow their kids to message online including family logistics, enabling their kid to be able to message/call in case of an emergency, or connecting with close friends and family oftentimes to facilitate playdate,” says Doerksen. “We realized there was a big opportunity to build a messaging app that allows kids to message with close friends and family in a safer way.
While much of the public conversation around online safety focuses on platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, Sage Haven’s founders believe many early negative experiences happen in smaller, more private digital spaces.
“Our initial messaging app focuses on the first few years when kids start messaging and calling friends and family members,” says Doerksen. “Across most parts of the world, this is between ages 7-12 on watches, iPads, and then smartphones.”
She says the long-term goal is to gradually provide children with more privacy and independence as they grow older while still maintaining safeguards for serious safety concerns.
One of the biggest challenges for parents is figuring out how to supervise group chats without becoming overly invasive or constantly monitoring every conversation manually.
“We learned from our 500+ interviews that over 70% of parents already supervise their kids’ chats in the first few years online,” Doerksen continued. “Today, this is mostly done manually by grabbing the kid’s device and scrolling backwards. Parents felt overwhelmed by the amount of messages and time this was taking. We built the first app where parents can see their kid’s messages from their own phones with alerts and recaps to make this easy and efficient.”
Sage Haven’s founders say the platform is designed not only to prevent serious harm, but also to help kids develop healthier communication habits online from an early age.
The app uses AI moderation to identify and block explicit images, dangerous links, bullying language, and other harmful content before messages are delivered or even sent. For situations that fall into more of a grey area, Sage Haven instead uses gentle prompts designed to encourage kinder and more thoughtful communication.
Interest in the platform has grown quickly: Sage Haven launched publicly following a beta with hundreds of families and built a waitlist of more than 15,000 families ahead of launch.
The company has also raised millions in pre-seed funding from Silicon Valley investors and is currently available on iOS devices including iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches. Android support is expected later this year, with an Android waitlist already underway.
Long term, the founders envision Sage Haven evolving into a broader digital safety platform for families, including tools related to parental controls, location sharing, safer AI access and healthier technology habits for children.
So what advice do the founders have for parents navigating kids’ first devices and online experiences?
“If your kid needs to be able to communicate with you outside of the house or you want to geotrack them, consider a smartwatch first. These are less addictive and have some functionality like messaging, calling and geotracking but without the camera or bigger screens for gaming and video streaming,” advises Doerksen.
She also encourages parents to think intentionally about what access children actually need once they receive a smartphone.
“If your kid is ready for a full smartphone (usually because you want the camera for messaging or FaceTime or for other useful apps like Google Maps), realize this doesn’t have to mean they get access to everything that could possibly be on that phone.”
The company says children have also responded positively to the experience, particularly interactive features like augmented reality video filters and the app’s more playful interface.
“From our early interviews, we knew kids wanted something that felt more fun and engaging than traditional messaging apps,” says Doerksen.
Since launching publicly last month, Sage Haven says the platform has already helped block explicit content, inappropriate images, dangerous links and cyberbullying behavior before those messages reach children.
When serious concerns arise, parents receive alerts along with guidance designed to help them navigate difficult conversations constructively and early.
“It feels amazing to have built technology that helps reduce toxicity and encourages healthier communication between kids,” says Doerksen. “Our goal is to help families feel more confident and supported as children begin navigating the digital world.”
For more information about Sage Haven, visit sagehavenforkids.com.