Yoto was founded by Ben Drury and Filip Denker, two dads who wanted to create a better way for their children to enjoy audio without needing to use tech built for an adult. Child-first by design, Yoto Players were designed for agency without addiction. They let kids pick up a physical Yoto Card, slot it in the top of their player and listen independently. With simple buttons, a pixel display even non-readers could navigate and a name that the smallest kids could pronounce, Yoto was born.
Since launching on Kickstarter in 2017, Yoto has grown into a global brand loved by families around the world. The launch of the Yoto Player 4th Gen and Yoto Mini 4th Gen in 2026 marks a new chapter in that story: years of understanding how families actually use their players, from the first Yoto Card of the morning to the last story at night, have shaped hardware that is faster, tougher and better than ever before, built around the rhythms of real family life.
Yoto has won multiple prestigious awards over the years, including the King’s Award for Enterprise in 2025, a Gold in the IDEA Awards, a D&AD Pencil for outstanding design, and was named one of TIME magazine's Best Inventions in 2020. Yoto Mini 4th Gen sits in the Henry Ford Museum of Innovation collection alongside the original iPhone thanks to its IDEA Gold award in 2026.
The content library spans over one thousand titles from publishers, labels and top creators including Universal Music Group, Penguin Random House, Roald Dahl Story Company, the BBC and Mattel. The company also produces its own award-winning Yoto Originals content, working with world-class authors, musicians, creatives and sound artists. Yoto takes pride in bringing the world's best stories, music, activities and podcasts to children of all ages in English, French and Spanish.