Mélody Madar, founder of online media platforms Herstory (previously Les Éclaireuses) and Pygmalione, which focus on women's issues and education respectively, has turned her attention to a new startup named Combiné Kids. The startup aims to reintroduce landline phones for children, offering a simpler and more focused communication tool. Madar and her partner Yohan Elbase, a fintech entrepreneur, launched the venture in January after realizing that children no longer have traditional objects for calling or listening to music. Their goal is to give children a way to call family members using a landline phone, even as landline use has nearly disappeared from daily life. In 2024, only 13% of French people aged 12 and older used a landline daily, compared to 80% who used mobile phones. This number has dropped significantly since 2017, when 27% of the population still used a landline. Combiné Kids has already announced its first funding round of one million euros, with contributions from members of the French TV show Qui veut être mon associé ?, including Kelly Massol, Alice Lhabouz, and Angélique Gérard. Madar noted that Angélique had previously invested in her earlier venture, Les Éclaireuses, and her support is especially valuable due to her past work with Xavier Niel, a well-known entrepreneur in the tech sector. Beyond the phone itself, Combiné Kids is developing a secure telecommunications network specifically for children. The startup has surrounded itself with strategic business angels, seeking experts in various areas of their project. Madar, who has previously focused on promoting women in entrepreneurship, also brought in Jérémy Bendayan, founder of Splashr, a video content creation company. To ensure safe and controlled use, Combiné Kids is managed through a parental app that allows customization of messages, management of authorized contacts, and access to call history. Calls between Combiné devices are free worldwide, but calls to mobile phones require a monthly subscription of 9.99 euros. As a mother of three children, Madar's goal is to provide an alternative to smartphones, allowing children to call grandparents independently. The idea also came from observing a trend in the United States, where landlines are experiencing a resurgence. Combiné Kids opened pre-orders a few weeks ago and has already secured 1,500 pre-orders. The next step is industrial production, with plans to deliver all pre-ordered devices before Christmas and produce at least 5,000 landline phones in 2026, followed by 20,000 in 2027. The R&D and prototypes were designed in a French factory, while the product's industrialization is being handled by the company's Chinese subsidiary. The startup has also received requests to distribute its product in major retail chains, something it had not anticipated before 2028.