Our Team

Founded by Students, Driven by Community

SmileChild was founded in 2017 by students at The Ohio State University who recognized a preventable tragedy: infant mortality in Columbus, Ohio. We saw that babies were dying from causes that could be prevented with better education and access to resources. But we also saw that most healthcare apps were developed for communities, not by them.

So we did something different.

We brought together 40+ expecting and new mothers from across Columbus—especially those from communities most affected by infant mortality—and asked them to design the app they needed. Through countless focus groups, we listened, learned, and built SmileChild from the ground up.

Today, SmileChild is the first iOS application that gamifies maternal and infant health education through a reward-based, module-based system—all delivered in language that's easy to understand, with representation that reflects the families we serve.

We're proud to partner with leading healthcare organizations like Celebrate One and Moms2B to expand access to life-saving education across Columbus and beyond.