myFirst is a Singapore-founded KidsTech brand focused on building technology specifically for children and families. Rather than positioning its products simply as children’s versions of adult gadgets, myFirst describes itself as a connected kids’ technology ecosystem spanning communication, photography, audio, creativity, and family social networking 1.

The brand operates under the parent company OAXIS. Its official website is myfirst.tech.

The exact geographic figure varies between myFirst’s current pages: its “About” page says it has local retail support in 36+ countries, while another page describes users in over 30 countries 1.

2017 — The beginning

myFirst traces its origins to Singapore in 2017. The story begins with founder G-Jay Yong and his young daughter, Ru Faye.

According to myFirst, Yong saw his two-year-old daughter attempting to pick up his large and expensive Canon DSLR camera. He identified a gap between two extremes: inexpensive children’s toys on one side and sophisticated adult electronics on the other. His response was to develop a proper digital camera designed around a child’s needs and hands 1.

That became the foundation for the original myFirst Camera and ultimately the broader myFirst brand.

The company describes its founders as a group of “Super Dads” consisting of technology-development engineers and entrepreneurs who wanted to create a safer and more useful technological future for their children 1.

From camera to KidsTech ecosystem

The company subsequently expanded beyond cameras. Its product portfolio grew into watches, headphones, drawing products, 3D pens, digital frames and other children’s electronics.

The important strategic shift was from “a gadget for kids” to an integrated ecosystem in which different devices can communicate through myFirst’s software platform.

myFirst now describes itself as the “World’s First Connected Tech Ecosystem for Kids.” 1

myFirst’s product strategy can broadly be divided into several areas.

1. Kids’ smartwatches (Fones)

One of myFirst’s best-known categories is its children’s smartwatch line, which the company calls Fones.

These aren’t intended to be conventional adult smartwatches shrunk down for children. They are designed primarily around parent-child communication and safety 2.

Depending on the model, the ecosystem can provide functions such as:

• GPS/location sharing
• Voice calls
• Video calls
• Messaging
• SOS/emergency functions
• Parent-controlled contacts
• Camera functions
• Music
• Family communication
• Other child-oriented smartwatch features

The current product ecosystem uses myFirst FoneOS, its wearable-oriented software environment 2.

This category demonstrates myFirst’s central philosophy: give children some technological independence without giving them unrestricted access to the adult internet and smartphone ecosystem.

2. Cameras

Cameras were the category that started the company.

myFirst has developed a range of children’s cameras, including both conventional digital cameras and instant-print cameras.

The company’s philosophy treats photography not merely as a toy, but as a genuine creative tool while simplifying the technology for younger users.

Its product family has included products such as:

• myFirst Camera
• myFirst Camera 2
• myFirst Camera 3
• myFirst Camera Insta
• newer generations of children’s cameras

OAXIS’s support site maintains manuals for multiple generations of myFirst cameras. Photography therefore remains an important part of the brand’s identity.

3. Audio and headphones

myFirst also produces children’s audio products.

The emphasis here is not simply on making colorful headphones for children, but on age-appropriate listening and safety.

The company’s current positioning highlights features such as volume-limited audio and child-oriented comfort 1.

The portfolio has included products such as:

• Wireless headphones
• Bone-conduction headphones
• Children’s audio devices
• Karaoke/voice-oriented products

This fits the broader myFirst philosophy: take a technology category that already exists for adults and redesign it around children’s needs.

4. Drawing and creative technology

Another major area is creative technology.

myFirst has offered products such as:

• Digital drawing boards
• Sketch products
• 3D pens
• Creative accessories

The goal is to use electronics as a tool for creation rather than passive consumption.

For example, the myFirst Sketch Board has been designed as a large LCD drawing surface combined with a physical whiteboard 3.

This is an important distinction in the brand’s philosophy: myFirst doesn’t portray children’s technology solely as entertainment or communication. It also wants it to encourage drawing, making, photography and experimentation.

5. Digital frames

myFirst has also expanded into digital photo frames.

These connect to the broader ecosystem and allow families to share photographs and moments.

The company has developed myFirst FrameOS, which it describes as an operating environment for staying connected with loved ones and sharing moments through the Circle ecosystem 1.

6. myFirst Circle

Perhaps the most strategically important part of the company is myFirst Circle.

Circle is the software layer connecting the company’s hardware.

myFirst describes it as a safer social environment for children and families, where parents control the child’s contacts and communication environment. It supports things such as:

• Voice communication
• Video calls
• Text messaging
• Photo sharing
• Family interaction
• Parent-managed contacts
• Connections between compatible myFirst devices

The company describes the environment as a “walled garden”: children can communicate and share with approved people rather than being exposed to the open social-media environment 1.

A conventional children’s smartwatch might be sold primarily as a hardware product. myFirst is increasingly trying to sell an integrated proposition:

Hardware + operating system + family app + controlled social network.

The company’s current ecosystem can roughly be visualized like this:

text
myFirst
│
┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
│ │
Hardware Software
│ │
┌──────────┼───────────┐ myFirst Circle
│ │ │ │
Fones Cameras Audio │
│ │ │ │
├──── Creative ───────┤ │
│ │ │
Sketch / 3D Pens Digital Frames │
│ │ │
└──────────────┬──────┴───────────────┘
│
Family ecosystem

myFirst’s newer product strategy makes this integration even more explicit through software platforms such as FoneOS, CamOS and FrameOS, all connected around Circle 1.

The central idea behind myFirst is guided technology adoption.

The company explicitly argues that simply keeping children away from technology is not necessarily the best long-term answer. Instead, it promotes introducing children to technology in a controlled environment, with parents involved 1.

Its philosophy can therefore be summarized in four ideas:

Safety

Children should be able to use connected technology without automatically entering the unrestricted adult internet.

Independence

Parents want children to become increasingly independent, but without losing the ability to communicate with or monitor them.

Creativity

Technology should encourage children to create things—photographs, drawings, recordings and other content—not merely consume media.

Family connection

Technology should help families communicate and share experiences rather than isolate children behind screens.

myFirst summarizes this broader mission around protecting children, making parenting easier, and helping families connect and explore together 1.

The primary audience is families with children, rather than general consumer-electronics buyers.

This makes myFirst unusual compared with brands such as Apple, Samsung or Xiaomi: those companies generally build products for the mass consumer market and then offer parental controls, whereas myFirst starts with the child/family use case.

Safety is one of the strongest elements of myFirst’s brand identity.

Its products are designed around the assumption that children need a different digital environment from adults.

For example, Circle is positioned as a controlled social environment rather than an open social network. The company says that parents manage the environment and that it is designed to exclude advertising and strangers 1.

This gives myFirst a distinctive positioning:

Not “no technology for kids.”

Instead:

“technology designed specifically for kids.”

That distinction is essentially the foundation of the brand.

Although founded in Singapore, myFirst has developed an international presence.

The company currently lists markets including:

• Singapore
• Japan
• Taiwan
• South Korea
• Malaysia
• Vietnam
• Thailand
• Philippines
• Qatar
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Sweden
• Spain
• Mexico

It says its products are sold internationally through retailers and distribution networks covering more than 30 countries, with another company page citing 36+ countries 1.

The company also says myFirst products have reached more than one million households, although this is a company-reported figure rather than an independently audited statistic 1.

An important point when researching myFirst is its relationship with OAXIS.

OAXIS is the Singapore technology company behind products such as InkCase, and its own website describes myFirst as its Kids’ Tech Collection. The OAXIS shop also explicitly describes OAXIS as the brand owner of myFirst 3.

Structurally, it is useful to think of:

OAXIS → parent/company behind the technology portfolio

myFirst → dedicated KidsTech brand

This explains why older documentation and support pages may refer to OAXIS, while the consumer-facing brand is myFirst.

G-Jay Yong is the founder and CEO associated with myFirst.

His daughter’s interaction with his DSLR is central to the company’s origin story. Rather than simply seeing her interest in the camera as a problem, he interpreted it as evidence that children wanted to interact with real technology but needed hardware designed for them 1.

That philosophy remains visible in the company today. The original question was essentially:

Why should children have to choose between cheap toy electronics and complicated adult technology?

myFirst’s answer has been to create an intermediate ecosystem specifically for children.

myFirst reports receiving various forms of international recognition.

Among the recognitions highlighted on its current website are:

• CES Innovation Award Honoree — 2025
• HolonIQ Southeast Asia EdTech 50 — 2025
• #1 Choice for Kids’ Smartwatches in Japan — 2024
• Malaysia Top E-Commerce Merchant — 2023
• Parent’s Choice Awards
• GATES Consumer Tech Channel Summit recognition
• K-Startup Grand Challenge — Runner Up, 2022

These are company-reported recognitions, and the individual awards represent different kinds of organizations and evaluation criteria, so they shouldn’t be interpreted as a single universal ranking of the brand 1.

There are several things that make myFirst relatively distinctive.

1. Designed around children from the beginning

Apple, Samsung and other mainstream technology companies make products primarily for general consumers. myFirst starts with the child as its primary user.

2. Combines hardware and software

The company isn’t merely selling cameras or watches. Circle and its various operating environments are intended to connect the devices into one ecosystem 1.

3. Parents are part of the product

The purchaser and the user are often different people:

Parent = buyer / administrator

Child = primary user

That makes parental controls and family connectivity central to the product design.

4. Treats technology as a developmental tool

Photography, drawing, communication and creativity are presented as ways for children to learn and explore—not simply consume entertainment.

5. Brand identity built around “first experiences”

The name myFirst itself reinforces the idea of a child’s first camera, first connected device, first creative gadget and first experience with digital technology.

From a business perspective, myFirst sits at the intersection of several industries:

Consumer electronics + KidsTech + EdTech + Family communication + Wearables + Digital safety

Its most interesting strategic asset may therefore not be any individual gadget. A camera, smartwatch, or pair of headphones can be replaced. But if a family adopts Circle + Fone + camera + other myFirst products, switching away becomes more difficult because the devices and family relationships are integrated into the same ecosystem.

This is a similar strategic concept to what large consumer technology companies do with their ecosystems, but applied specifically to children and families.

This distinction is arguably the most important thing to understand about the company.

The ecosystem approach can provide a much better experience if a family uses several compatible products. But it also means the value proposition depends heavily on the quality of the company’s software, connectivity, parental controls, servers, mobile apps and ongoing support—not just the physical hardware.

Likewise, a parent considering a myFirst device should distinguish between marketing claims and independently verified performance. Claims such as “world’s first,” household numbers, awards and market rankings are best understood as company positioning unless independently substantiated.

myFirst is a Singapore-founded KidsTech brand, established in 2017 by G-Jay Yong and a group of parent-engineers, that evolved from a children’s digital-camera company into an integrated ecosystem of smartwatches, cameras, audio products, creative devices, digital frames and the parent-controlled myFirst Circle platform—all built around the idea of giving children a safer, more creative and more guided first experience with connected technology. 1

1. About myFirst | The World’s First Kids Tech Ecosystem
2. Best Smart Watch for Kids in Singapore | myFirst – myFirst Singapore
3. myFirst Sketch Board 21″ – With Dual Display (LCD Sketch Board + Whiteboard) – OAXIS Asia Pte Ltd