New parents take a million pictures but let’s face it: pictures are just part of the story. Blinkbuggy is a platform that allows parents to capture, organize, share and store family memories, all in one safe place. The service is cloud-based, so you can upload photos, include written notes and quotes, artwork, emails – all those elements that make up family memories – and you can even print them as an album. And easily create albums for multiple children.
Yes, privacy controls are included, since cofounder and CEO Emma Weisberg is a parent herself and leave it to a mom to know how important that is.
Memories happen in a blink, those moments pass in a flash – but Blinkbuggy keeps them all safe, sound – and secure.
Weisberg tells us more about this digital lifelog and what inspired it.
Tell us about the decision to apply for ER Accelerator.
Life is a continual process of learning – that’s what makes it fun! As first time founders, we know we have a lot to learn and could greatly benefit from the experience and advice of those who have gone before us. The startup world in particular requires that you move quickly. What better way to avoid pitfalls and accelerate progress than to immerse yourself in a community of experienced entrepreneurs and business leaders who have been through and observed hundreds of times the process we are currently going through?
Tell us about your product.
Blinkbuggy is a website and mobile app that allows you to log your life, privately. It offers parents a new solution allowing them to easily and privately log their children’s lives from birth, through first steps and on to adulthood.
How is it different?
We believe that photos and images are a core part of telling our story, but not the most important part. With Blinkbuggy, you can write free form entries, record funny quotes, document a milestone, upload scanned artwork, etc. Blinkbuggy is designed to go beyond the photo to include the context surrounding those images, as well as the stories and moments that lived only in our memories…until now.
What inspired you to start the company?
My daughter. When she was born, I started a gmail account for her so I could write to her throughout her life. There were many aspects that I liked about using email to log her life and share my experiences with her future self, but there were several problems with it as well. Gmail was not built for lifelogging. That said, I couldn’t find anything else that worked better, so I decided to build it myself!
What market are you attacking and how big is it?
We are at the intersection of several interesting verticals and trends that are growing and changing every day. A good indicator of the current market size is the sheer size and growth of the luxury baby market, which was predicted by IBISWorld to pass $10B by the end of 2014 and continue to grow. This number illustrates both the impressive volume and the continued growth of disposable income that is going to nice-to-haves, not need-to-haves for your baby, both in the U.S. and globally.
What is the business model?
Freemium and e-commerce.
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within four months?
We will have a maniacal focus on product.
If you could be put in touch with one investor in the New York community who would it be and why?
My future self. This would mean that I had attained enough financial success to allow me to support other female entrepreneurs in following their dreams.
What is your take on the current scene in New York today?
An interesting trend is the growth and diversification in sources of fundraising, particularly the rise of crowdfunding platforms. As traditional methods of early-stage funding, e.g. angels, become more organized with more rigorous and lengthy processes, the platforms are stepping in to try to offer a more efficient, scalable approach to fundraising for the ever under-resourced, time-starved startup. The jury is still out, but it will be interesting to see how the value proposition develops and the space these platforms will occupy in the fundraising ecosystem.
What’s your favorite NY winter activity?
Taking my children ice skating in Rockefeller Center.
