Why I created Cooci

Cooci started with one simple thought:

I wanted to know where my children were, without giving them a phone.

I created Cooci as a side project alongside my full-time job. It didn’t start with a business plan or an ambition to create another piece of technology. It started with something I wanted for my own children.

I want children to be allowed to stay children a little longer.

I don’t believe they need to be rushed into the digital world simply because the technology exists. Childhood is already short. I wanted my children to have time to play, explore, get bored, become curious, make mistakes and gradually learn how to navigate the world around them.

To grow slowly, at their own pace.

I wanted to give their developing minds time and space before introducing more screens, more notifications, more information and more digital demands.

That became the starting point for Cooci.

At first, I thought it was too big

When the first Cooci prototypes took shape, I had the same reaction some people have when they first see the watch:

Is it too big? Is it too chunky for a child?

I thought about it a lot.

Then I placed it next to a smartwatch.

And suddenly I saw it differently.

It wasn’t bigger than the alternative I was trying to avoid. It was simply doing something completely different.

The space at the back of Cooci is designed to hold an Apple AirTag. That is what makes it possible to combine a traditional analogue watch with the location function I wanted as a parent.

Once I looked at it that way, the size made sense.

It became part of the purpose.

Technology, but only where it adds something

I didn’t want to create another digital ecosystem.

Cooci doesn’t need its own app.
It doesn’t need its own software.
There is no Cooci subscription.
There is no screen to charge or another system that constantly needs updating.

The technology I needed already existed.

So instead of reinventing it, I designed the watch around it.

An Apple AirTag fits into the back of Cooci, while the front remains something children have worn for generations:

a normal analogue watch.

For me, that balance became the whole idea behind Cooci.

Modern technology where it genuinely adds value. Simplicity everywhere else.

One AirTag, many uses

There was another thing I really liked about using an AirTag.

It doesn’t have to belong permanently to the watch.

The same AirTag can move with family life.

Use it in the Cooci watch when your child is out and about. Later, move it to a bicycle, your car keys, a suitcase or somewhere else where it is useful.

I liked the idea of reusing something rather than creating another tracker with only one purpose.

No separate Cooci tracker.
No extra subscription.
No technology that becomes useless when your child outgrows the watch.

Just one small piece of technology that can continue to have a purpose.

Learning to navigate the world

When we were children, we didn’t have a phone in our pocket telling us exactly where to go.

We recognised streets.
We remembered landmarks.
We learned the way home.
We paid attention to our surroundings.

And if we got lost, we had to do something important:

ask someone for help.

I don’t want technology to remove every small challenge from my children’s lives.

If my child takes a wrong turn, I want them to stop, look around and think. Maybe walk into a shop and say:

“Excuse me, I’m lost. Can you help me?”

Those small situations teach children to communicate, solve problems and gradually become more independent.

At the same time, I still have the reassurance of being able to see approximately where my child is through the AirTag.

That was the balance I was looking for.

Learning real time

There was another skill I wanted Cooci to give children:

the ability to read an analogue clock.

Not simply look at numbers on a screen, but actually understand how time works.

The Cooci dial was designed to make hours and minutes easier for children to understand, helping them learn analogue time step by step.

It may seem like a small thing.

But to me, it represents something bigger.

Understanding time.
Finding your way.
Taking responsibility for your things.
Solving small problems.
Becoming a little more independent.

These are all small steps towards growing up.

Why purple, green and yellow

Even the colours were intentional.

I didn’t want Cooci to follow the traditional idea that children’s products automatically need to be pink for girls and blue for boys.

So I chose purple and green.

They felt playful, modern and more neutral — colours that could belong to any child.

The yellow case had another quality I loved: visibility.

Bright yellow is widely used in high-visibility and safety contexts because it stands out so clearly.

That combination felt right for Cooci.

Playful, visible and practical — without defining what a boy or a girl is supposed to like.

Growing slowly

So much of modern life is designed around speed.

Faster answers.
More information.
More stimulation.
More entertainment.
More connectivity.

But children do not need to grow up faster just because the world around them is moving faster.

I want my children to have time to develop their own sense of direction, patience, creativity, judgment and confidence.

To solve some things themselves before technology solves everything for them.

And sometimes, simply to be unavailable for a little while — while still giving me, as a parent, some reassurance in the background.

A little more childhood. A little less screen.

Cooci was never about removing technology completely.

It was about asking a different question:

How much technology does a child actually need — and when?

I wanted some of the reassurance modern technology can give me as a parent, without handing my child everything else that normally comes with it.

A watch that tells the time.

A hidden place for an AirTag.

No screen.
No Cooci app.
No Cooci subscription.
No messages.
No social media.

Just a little more freedom for them.

A little more time to grow at their own pace.

And a little more peace of mind for us.

That is why I created Cooci.