A brand new startup known as Auggie is aiming to present dad and mom a single platform the place they will store for merchandise and join with one another. The corporate’s new app, which launched this week, gives dad and mom a platform the place they will share product suggestions, store vetted merchandise and discover group amongst one another to get real-time recommendation on completely different parenting issues.
Auggie was based in August 2023 by Lily Walla, an entrepreneur who beforehand based an edible branding startup known as SPOTS NYC that bought to Branded Treats, a food-distributor for 1-800-Flowers.
Walla got here up with the thought for Auggie when she was pregnant together with her first youngster. She was looking for recommendation from the individuals round her to assist make choices about what stroller to buy or which pediatrician to decide on. After discovering herself juggling a number of completely different spreadsheets and group chats, Walla determined to create a product that might make it simpler for folks to seek out vetted merchandise and get recommendation from different dad and mom.
Walla determined to call the startup after her son’s beginning month: August.
“Parents seek advice and product recommendations during every stage of parenting,” Walla advised TechCrunch. “They prefer word of mouth recommendations. I can attest to that and I hear from parents who share similar experiences. But shopping, sharing and building community have kind of always been siloed.”
Auggie needs to resolve this by connecting the dots between group and commerce for folks, each anticipating and present.
The corporate launched a WhatsApp group in January to check out a means for folks to attach for real-time recommendation and the group ended up exceeding WhatsApp’s restrict for members and subgroups. After seeing greater than 450,000 messages and 35,000 product suggestions shared on the WhatsApp group, Auggie accelerated plans for its personal app, which might be the brand new house for its group. The app is now obtainable on iOS, whereas an Android launch is predicted to come back within the subsequent few weeks.
The app goals to assist dad and mom discover recommendation, camaraderie and sensible ideas as they navigate parenthood. Dad and mom can discover topic-based areas to dive into completely different discussions, from feeding to sleep to journey and extra. You can too discover a group primarily based in your due date or geographical location.
The app is at the moment free-to-use, however the startup could discover a subscription mannequin sooner or later sooner or later.
In March, the corporate launched the second a part of its mission: its desktop market powered by the suggestions shared by dad and mom in its group. {The marketplace} at the moment has 10,000 merchandise from common manufacturers like BabyBjörn, UPPAbaby, Skip Hop and extra. Along with merchandise, it additionally options companies, which suggests dad and mom can use {the marketplace} to seek out pediatricians, lactation consultants, doulas and extra.
{The marketplace} isn’t straight built-in into the cell app, so when a person clicks on a advisable product, they’re linked out to the net app. Auggie does, nonetheless, plan to combine {the marketplace} into its app within the close to future.
Auggie’s present enterprise mannequin relies on online marketing, so the corporate earns fee on every product bought by its market. As for the long run, Walla says Auggie is working to diversify its enterprise mannequin by unlocking drop-shipping and partnering with manufacturers.
The startup is focusing on the default mother or father, which Walla says tends to be the mother who is usually overwhelmed with resolution fatigue. The startup can be primarily focusing on dad and mom with youngsters who’re underneath five-years of age.
“Our Northstar is to filter out the noise when it comes to every stage of parenting to have content, community and commerce all in one place,” Walla stated. “We’re just really focused on scaling the community, our retail partners, and just building the ecosystem of recommendations when it comes to parenting.”
Auggie raised $1.7 million in seed funding in August 2023 from NFX, Accel, Allison Stern at Mom Ventures, XFactor Ventures, and some strategic angel buyers.
