fragFINN e.V.

What fragFINN e.V. does

fragFINN e.V. is a Berlin-based German non-profit association (eingetragener Verein) that operates Germany's primary non-commercial child-safe search engine and curated internet environment for children aged 6 to 12. Founded in 2007 as part of the federal "Ein Netz für Kinder" initiative and headquartered at Beuthstraße 6 in Berlin-Mitte, the organization runs a web portal plus dedicated mobile applications on Android, iOS, and Fire OS, and reports approximately 500,000 unique users per month, 61% brand awareness among German children in the target age group, and usage by roughly half of all German children aged 6-12. Beyond the search product, fragFINN produces editorial and educational content including the FINNreporter children's journalism project, the Genial Digital media-literacy program, and the KieKI project on AI literacy launched in 2024.

The platform is built on open-source components — primarily Elasticsearch for the search index and the Norconex Collector web crawler — with all infrastructure self-hosted in Germany to satisfy data-protection requirements. Its defining asset is the Positivliste, a manually curated whitelist of roughly 3,400+ child-safe websites continuously maintained by editorial staff since launch, which is the filter that determines which pages are accessible through the search engine. fragFINN is integrated as the default or recommended child-safe search engine in third-party protection solutions including JusProg (youth media protection software), Vodafone family offerings, and G DATA security software, embedding the service into existing child-safety stacks.

Revenue is generated entirely through two streams: corporate membership fees from sponsoring companies and project-based grants from the German Federal Commissioner for Media and Culture (BKM). Named corporate members include Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Google, Super RTL/TOGGO, RTLZWEI, Elements of Art, and JusProg. End-user access is free of charge; the organization does not monetize user data, sell advertising, or operate subscription tiers. As a registered association, fragFINN has no equity investors and reinvests contributions into operations, content production, and educational programming. Leadership comprises Managing Director Nadine Berneis (since August 2024) and Chair Melanie Endemann (since December 2025).

Name

fragFINN e.V.

Legal name

fragFINN e.V.

Website

https://eltern.fragfinn.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

fragFINN e.V. is a Berlin-based non-profit operating Germany's leading non-commercial child-safe search engine for children aged 6-12, built on a manually curated website whitelist and open-source technology, and funded by corporate memberships and federal media grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Child Internet Safety Services

NAICS

Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Web Content Filtering & Safe Search Controls (EDAFALAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Kids & Family Curated Content Platforms (MPACAKAL)

Keywords

• Child-safe search engine
• Youth media protection
• Media literacy education
• Children internet safety
• Educational content platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Corporate Membership Fees: fragFINN e.V. is financed by membership fees from notable companies and associations in the telecommunications, internet, and media industries. Corporate members include Vodafone (founding member), Deutsche Telekom AG, Google Deutschland, Super RTL/TOGGO, RTLZWEI, Elements of Art GmbH, and others. These fees fund the core operations of the non-profit association.
2. Government Project Funding: fragFINN receives project-based state funding for specific initiatives. Notably, the KieKI project (BKM/Bundesregierung) received 450,000 EUR, the FINNreporter project received BKM funding 2021-2023, and educational materials have been co-funded by Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (mabb).
3. Platform Services (Free to End Users): The fragFINN search engine and mobile app are provided completely free to children, parents, and educators. No direct revenue is generated from end users. The platform is non-commercial in its consumer-facing operation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

fragFINN e.V. operates a free, publicly accessible child-safe search engine (fragFINN.de) and companion mobile browser app for children ages 6-12 in Germany. The service is built on a curated Positivliste of approximately 3,400 manually reviewed child-safe websites maintained by a media-pedagogy team, complemented by educational content including learning modules, video series, children's journalism projects, and a media literacy magazine.

Product overview

fragFINN e.V. operates a unified portfolio of child-safe internet products centered on its Positivliste—a curated database of approximately 3,400-4,000 child-reviewed websites. The core offering is fragFINN.de, a child-safe search engine accessible via web and the fragFINN-App (mobile browser for Android, iOS, and Fire OS). The ecosystem includes educational projects like FINNreporter (children's journalism), the KieKI AI education project, and educational content series including the fragFINN-Serie video programs and Genial Digital media literacy magazine. Supporting resources include the Fake News learning module, Lottes Lexikon children's dictionary, and classroom materials for educators. The school-specific variant schule.fragfinn.de provides a dedicated educational environment. The Positivliste is also licensed to third-party parental control software (JusProg, G DATA, Vodafone) for broader child safety integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FINNreporter: Children's journalism project where children aged 8-14 learn about news production, journalism, and media literacy by creating their own content in various formats.
• KieKI – Kinder erklären KI
• Genial Digital
• fragFINN Kinderschutz-App
• Lottes Lexikon

Products and services

• fragFINN.de Search Engine A child-safe search engine and protected browsing environment for children aged 6-12, displaying only websites from the fragFINN Positivliste that have been reviewed by media education professionals. Offers text and image search with editorial recommendations.
• schule.fragfinn.de School Portal

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk (DKHW)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 August 2024DKHW collaborates with fragFINN on the 'Genial Digital' project—a digital media literacy magazine and learning modules for children ages 8-11 covering topics like first smartphone use, internet safety, and cyberbullying. DKHW leads the publication; fragFINN contributes as a co-publisher.
• Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia-Diensteanbieter (FSM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 August 2024FSM co-publishes the 'Genial Digital' magazine with DKHW and fragFINN. FSM is also a partner in the klicksafe-coordinated European campaign 'Positive KinderOnlineInhalte' (POCC).
• O2 TelefónicaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 August 2024O2 Telefónica supported the development of the digital version of 'Genial Digital' with additional funding, contributing to the digital media literacy program for children.
• The Walt Disney CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 August 2024The Walt Disney Company supported the development of the child-friendly criteria catalog with explanatory videos for fragFINN.
• Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (mabb)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 December 2023mabb developed and published a handbook and worksheets on online research in elementary school in collaboration with fragFINN and the children's encyclopedia Klexikon. The materials were practically tested in workshops with elementary school classes in 2023.
• Klexikon (ZUM.de)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 December 2023Klexikon, a children's encyclopedia, partnered with fragFINN and mabb to create educational materials on online research for elementary school students.
• Deutschland sicher im Netz e.V. (DsiN)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 September 2021DsiN initiated the DigiBitS (Digitale Bildung trifft Schule) program, with fragFINN as a cooperation partner contributing checklists and educational materials on safe internet searching and evaluating search results.
• Technische Hochschule KölnminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 September 2021Collaborated with fragFINN to create a child-friendly explanation of the concept of 'algorithms' as part of the 'A wie Algorithmus' educational series, using everyday examples to explain abstract digital concepts.
• Blinde KuhcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 September 2021fragFINN and Blinde Kuh, Germany's two leading child search engines, jointly launched the #DarumKindersuchmaschinen campaign to promote child search engines and positive youth media protection. The campaign was supported by parents, teachers, bloggers, and public figures.
• klicksafecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 September 2021klicksafe coordinated the German arm of the European 'Positive KinderOnlineInhalte' (POCC) campaign, partnering with fragFINN, FSM, and jugendschutz.net to create an infographic for identifying quality online content for children.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Kiddle: A free, kid-safe visual search engine and web directory powered by a curated whitelist and safe-search filtering; comparable in product mechanic (curated kids search) and target user, though operating in English and globally.
• KidzSearch: A free kid-safe search engine using a curated index and explicit content filtering; serves the same function and target audience as fragFINN, though without a media-pedagogy team curation layer.
• Blinde Kuh: One of Germany's two leading child search engines, operated by Blinde Kuh e.V. fragFINN and Blinde Kuh have jointly run the #DarumKindersuchmaschinen campaign and serve the same target audience (German children) with the same positive-list curation model.
• Safe Search Kids: A custom Google-powered safe search engine for kids with curated directories and educational resources; a direct peer in the dedicated child-safe-search category, though smaller and English-only.
• JusProg e.V. Provides free youth-protection software for PC and smartphones that embeds the fragFINN Positivliste; as a 2025 member of fragFINN e.V. and a direct distributor/integrator of its whitelist, JusProg is both a technical partner and the closest operating peer in the German child-safety stack.

Emerging players

• Klexikon: A free German children's encyclopedia that co-develops educational materials with fragFINN (e.g., online-research materials with mabb); it is comparable as a non-commercial, child-targeted knowledge resource curated for the 6-12 age group.

Broad incumbents

• Common Sense Media: A major US nonprofit providing media ratings, reviews, and advice for children's digital content; comparable as a mission-aligned, member-funded child digital-safety organization, though broader in scope than search and US-based.
• KiKA (Kinderkanal): The ARD/ZDF public children's media platform offering curated, age-appropriate video and online content for German children; comparable as a public-mission child content platform with educational programming, though media rather than search.
• TOGGO (Super RTL): Super RTL's children's brand with a kids platform, content, and media literacy initiatives; a corporate board member of fragFINN and a comparable German kid-content brand, though focused on commercial media rather than search.
• ZDF tivi: ZDF's online children's platform with curated videos, games, and learning content for German kids; comparable as a curated, public-broadcaster child content destination serving the same 6-12 audience in Germany.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fragfinn_de
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/fragFinn
• Facebookfacebook.com/fragFINN
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fragfinn
• Instagraminstagram.com/fragfinn_official

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about fragFINN e.V.