A new start is called Oggy aims to give parents a single platform where they can buy products and connect with each other. The company’s new applaunched this week, offers parents a platform where they can share product recommendations, shop tested products and find community with each other to get real-time advice on different parenting topics.
Auggie was founded in August 2023 by Lily Walla, an entrepreneur who previously founded an edibles startup called SPOTS NYC that she sold to Branded Treats, a food distributor for 1-800-Flowers.
Walla had the idea for Auggie when she was pregnant with her first child. She sought advice from people around her to make decisions about which stroller to buy or which pediatrician to choose. After finding herself juggling several different spreadsheets and group chats, Walla decided to create a product that would make it easier for parents to find tested products and get advice from other parents.
Walla decided to name the startup after her son’s birth month: August.
“Parents are looking for advice and product recommendations at every stage of parenting,” Walla told TechCrunch. “They prefer word of mouth recommendations. I can attest to this and hear from parents who share similar experiences. But shopping, sharing and building community has always been kind of siloed.”
Auggie wants to solve this by connecting the dots between community and commerce for parents, both prospective and current.
The company launched a WhatsApp community in January to test a way to connect parents for real-time advice, and the community ended up exceeding WhatsApp’s limit on members and subgroups. After seeing more than 450,000 messages and 35,000 product recommendations shared in the WhatsApp community, Auggie accelerated plans for her own app, which would be the new home for her community. The app is now available on iOS, with an Android release expected in the coming weeks.
The app aims to help parents find advice, companionship and practical advice as they navigate parenthood. Parents can explore theme-based spaces to dive into different conversations, from feeding to sleep to travel and more. You can also find a community based on your due date or geographic location.
The app is currently free, but the startup may explore a subscription model at some point in the future.
In March, the company launched the second part of its mission: buying desktops powered by recommendations shared by parents in its community. The marketplace currently features 10,000 products from popular brands like BabyBjörn, UPPAbaby, Skip Hop and more. In addition to products, it also has services, meaning parents can use the marketplace to find pediatricians, lactation consultants, doulas, and more.
The marketplace is not directly integrated into the mobile app, so when a user clicks on a recommended product, they are connected to the web app. However, Auggie plans to integrate the market into its app in the near future.
Auggie’s current business model is based on affiliate marketing, so the company earns a commission for every product sold through its marketplace. As for the future, Walla says Auggie is working to diversify its business model by unlocking drop-shipping and partnering with brands.
The startup is targeting the default parent, who Walla says tends to be the mom who is sometimes overwhelmed by decision fatigue. The startup is also mainly targeting parents with children under the age of five.
“Our Northstar is about filtering out the noise at every stage of parenting so we have content, community and commerce all in one place,” Walla said. “We’re really focused on scaling the community, our retail partners, and just building the ecosystem of parenting propositions.”
Auggie has raised $1.7 million in seed funding in August 2023 from NFX, Accel, Allison Stern at Mother Ventures, XFactor Ventures and a few strategic angel investors.
