Some founders start companies because they see opportunity in under-served or untapped markets. Others see inefficiencies in industries they’re familiar with and build solutions to those problems. And some just take a passion and find a way to turn it into a business.
For FamilyTech CEO and Founder Chris Bergman, he just wanted kids to have it a little easier than he did.
Bergman grew up without knowing his father and went through “a series of stepdads” while living in a home that was “pretty tension-filled,” he told Cincy Inno in an interview. When his wife became pregnant with their first child in 2011, Bergman said he thought about the family that he grew up in and the family that he wanted to make sure that his son grew up in.
"And [I] felt that mobile software was a way that could... create [a] structure for joy in the home."
"Mobile software was a way that could... create a structure for joy in the home."
Currently, the company provides four apps to manage domestic chores. Last year, the company rebranded from ChoreMonster — the first product it launched in 2013 - to FamilyTech as the business was expanding its offering of apps for the entire family.
Here's how it works. Parents use a dedicated platform to assign chores to their children and grant rewards upon completion. For example, a father can reward his eight-year-old daughter for cleaning her room with more TV time. Or a mother of a teenage boy may be more open to extending curfew on Saturday night if her son goes to pick up some groceries.
"As I got older and moved into adulthood, I found out that I actually really enjoy working," Bergman said. "I wanted to make sure that my kids grow up in an environment where they understood that work can be fun."
"I wanted to make sure that my kids grow up in an environment where they understood that work can be fun."
All the apps are free to download and use, as FamilyTech generates revenue through advertising. To synchronize the assignments, both parents and children need to download their dedicated app - MotherShp for parents, ChoreMonster for kids and Landra for teens. There's also an app called HoneyDo for couples, which allows spouses to get, for example, "me time" in exchange for taking out the trash.
Since 2011, FamilyTech — which now has 15 employees — raised more than $5 million from CincyTech, Detroit Venture Partners, Techstars (Disney Accelerator) and other undisclosed backers.
