The NovelMaker Story: From Idea to Reality

NovelMaker started with a simple observation: parents and grandparents are the best storytellers their children will ever have, but most of them do not have the time, tools, or confidence to tell stories every night.

Where the idea came from

The founders noticed a pattern in their own families. Parents who worked long hours or travelled often felt they were missing the quiet moments at the end of the day. Grandparents who lived far away wanted to be part of bedtime but could only be there through a screen, if at all.

The question we kept asking

What if the voice of someone you love could tell a story, even when that person cannot be in the room? What if a grandparent could record their voice once and narrate stories for their grandchildren for years?

Building it

The first versions were rough. Getting voice technology to sound warm and human rather than mechanical takes a lot of work. The team spent months on the recording experience, testing with real families to understand what made a narrated story feel like home rather than an app.

What families told us

The feedback from early users shaped almost everything. Parents wanted personalisation — the ability to put their child's name in the story and choose themes their child cared about. Grandparents wanted it to be simple enough to use without help. Children, when asked, mostly just wanted to hear the story again. You can see the full feature set on the product page or check the pricing.

Where we are now

NovelMaker is used by over 10,000 families across more than 6 languages. We presented at Web Summit 2024 and have backing from NVIDIA Inception, AWS, and Google for Startups. We are a small team and we intend to stay that way, focused on the thing that matters: making bedtime a moment families look forward to.