FamilyKo: An Interactive Video Chat App for Long-Distance Families with Kids

“We’ve given long-distance families something to talk about, something to bond over.” That’s the central part of the pitch for FamilyKo, an interactive video-conferencing platform that will allow families – especially including the kids – to engage with games and storybooks in an online chat. It’ll be like using Skype or Facetime, but with a welcome new twist. Created by a team from the Philippines, it wants to bridge the gulf of distance and communication between overseas Filipino workers and their loved ones back home. Launching later this year, FamilyKo will bring apps for PC, iPhone, iPad, as well as for Android smartphones and tablets.

FamilyKo’s Rafael Oca tells us that there are 13 million such workers among his countrymen and women scattered across the globe, working in fields such as domestic help, nursing, and software development. Of those, he feels that there’s an “addressable market size of over four million” such Filipino families. The key interactive elements come from the virtual books, lessons, and games (pictured above and below) that will be in-app paid purchases, leaving “the basic app free” to download and use. The startup feels it’s especially important to be on iPad and other tablets, where the finger-friendly large screens will make the interactivity feel stronger.

FamilyKo is one of 11 recent graduates from the first-ever JFDI Innov8 2012 Bootcamp, and the same team’s separate Hobbymash concept was the winner at Startup Weekend Manila 2011. The team consists of Liezl Buenaventura, Josh Liao, Mark Co, and Rafael as well. See the full FamilyKo pitch at the closing JDFI Demo Day in the video below.

Of course, there’s scope for international expansion for this interactive video-conferencing app. “Our ultimate goal,” says Rafael, “is to become the go-to application for long distance families all over the world.” That could be among other migrant worker populations, or among the many single parent households in the western hemisphere where more input from the wider family – from aunts, or grandparents – would be welcome engagement for the children. FamilyKo will be up against the likes of Splaype, the Skype-based interactive chat tool from Singapore – but FamilyKo will be different in having its own standalone apps.

Keep an eye on the FamilyKo road to launch on its Facebook page, and check out the startup’s JFDI Demo Day pitch in this seven-minute video:

(Direct YouTube link for mobile readers).