PHL Inno's weekly "Startup Spotlight" feature highlights founders and new businesses cropping up in the region.
The startup: Pippy Sips is developing a three-in-one cooling, monitoring and storing system for breast milk.
Founded: 2018
Home base: Philadelphia
Founder: Amberlee Venti, a mental health professional of more than 15 years. Venti, who does not have a background in product development or engineering, created Pippy Sips after facing her own problems when pumping breast milk.
When Venti worked at walk-in outpatient mental health clinic in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood doing direct clinical care, the mother of two often had trouble finding time to pump. The opioid epidemic required staff to provide constant emergency care. The refrigerator where she stored her milk was in a room where the clinic did group therapy, making it difficult for Venti to store new milk.
Carrying around a cooler proved cumbersome, she said, and made it difficult to gauge if the breast milk was being kept at the right temperature all day. Being in a managerial role, it was awkward passing colleagues with breast milk bottles, Venti added.
Looking at her S’well bottle, she wished for a simple breast milk storage solution. She even tried pumping into the S’well bottle and found that while it did keep the breast milk cool, it couldn’t regulate the temperature.
“We have these beautiful bottles for our water, tea or coffee, but one of the most precious substances in the world, breast milk, we don't really have a reliable, convenient, dependable and sleek way of storing it,” Venti said.
She teamed up with her husband Joseph, brother-in-law Peter Venti and some engineers to develop Pippy Sips.
The product: Maia has a double-walled and vacuum-sealed stainless steel outer shell, a cooling puck that can go into the freezer, an inner plastic bottle that attaches directly to the breast pump and a thermo-lid with a temperature reader for the breast milk.
The plastic bottle can hold up to 10 ounces of milk. Users can double tap the lid to reveal the temperature reading, which can also tell users if the contents are getting too hot or too cold.
The pieces fit together like a Russian nesting doll and won’t fit together unless all parts are there.
“When you're a mom not sleeping at night and trying to pack a million things for your pumping day, that’s a really nice signal to you to pack whatever is missing,” Venti said.
Funding: Pippy Sips did a WeFunder campaign in 2020, raising $64,000 from investors. The startup also received $50,000 from the University City Science Center’s Launch Lane program and $25,000 from the Bucks Built Startup Fund.
Venti is looking to do fundraising in between its first and second production runs, likely between $250,000 to $500,000 in capital.
The goal: Maia is now in production, and Venti anticipates it being released in the late fall. Pre-sales for $110 are live on Pippy Sips’ website. The company’s first run will produce 500 units, and its second run will make some tweaks based on user feedback.
The startup has spent years doing research and development, and Venti is looking forward to Pippy Sips becoming a revenue-producing business.
“We’re really excited to actually bring money into the bank,” Venti said.
