Lufi & Friends
Lufi & Friends is an Austin-based family brand that makes bilingual board books with built-in songs, helping young children explore a second language through music and play.
The Story
Lufi & Friends began when Adrian and Marina Lidow realized their own kids were drawn to music but not to screens. Rather than hand them a tablet, the couple created board books that sing—pressable sound buttons paired with simple illustrations and traditional songs in multiple languages. The first title was born out of a Kickstarter campaign for Spanish-language books, and the response from parents and grandparents encouraged them to keep expanding.
The company grew from a side-project into a small Shopify brand with a focused catalog: Spanish, French, Italian, Greek, Ukrainian, Polish, German, and Russian song books, plus everyday-skills titles. Each set keeps the same format—repeatable songs, clear bilingual text, and durable board pages—so the experience stays consistent even as the languages change. Free U.S. shipping and direct-to-consumer sales keep the business model simple, while Etsy and a small wholesale presence through Faire introduce new families to the brand.
Today Lufi & Friends operates as a nights-and-weekends venture alongside Marina’s full-time role as a UX researcher at Meta. Revenue is still modest but meaningful: the founders said they were on track to reach about $200,000 in annual sales, with strong customer loyalty from grandparents, bilingual households, and parents looking for screen-free learning tools. The story remains centered on the original mission—creating shared moments around language and music—rather than scaling at any cost.