Can monsters make kids do chores that parents can’t make them do?
Chris Bergman and Paul Armstrong think they can. Not by frightening kids into action, but rather by encouraging them to collect the cute, funny monsters that these entrepreneurs have created as part of their new mobile app,
Choremonster.
The founders of the Cincinnati-based startup are both experienced web designers who were part of the 2011 graduating class at
The Brandery, a startup accelerator based in Cincy that helped to launch a dozen new tech businesses in the past two years.
Choremonster is a web-based mobile app that lets parents and kids interact to make chores more enjoyable. Kids are rewarded for completing tasks by earning real-life rewards from mom and dad. They can also collect cool, virtual monsters from Choremonster that they can play games with online or trade with friends.
Bergman describes the app as “allowance meets Pokemon” and says it’s targeted at kids age 6-12. “The monsters are instant gratification for kids. What kid doesn’t like monsters? It’s worked well in all of our test families. Kids are really inspired.”
Choremonster recently received a $200,000 investment from
CincyTech, a public- private partnership whose mission is to invest in high-growth startup technology companies in Southwest Ohio. In addition, support from CincyTech has helped to attract angel investors, bringing the total seed-stage funding to $350,000.
“As of 2010, 51 percent of children between 4 and 12 years old had digital devices that could run the Choremonster app, and we know that number is growing,” says Mike Venerable, Managing Director of Digital, Software and Health Technology at CincyTech. “By incorporating a web-based service into its platform as well, Choremonster has a strong market on which it can capitalize.”
Bergman says that Choremonster will earn revenue through selling memberships to a premium version of the program. The company also plans to sell licensed products depicting the app’s monster characters, which include colorful names such as Frank Rumpnoodle and Phil Dustrumple. There are over 250 monsters kids can collect.
Public release of the app is the next step, says Bergman, although he declined to estimate exactly when that would take place.
Source: Chris Bergman
Writer: Val Prevish