What started as a joke solution for passive-aggressive notes from roommates and chore charts that didn’t yield results is now
Homey, a mobile application that gamifies household chores. Parents can assign chores for the whole family by taking pictures of what needs to be done. When kids complete chores, they take a photo of the completed chore, and earn points assigned to the task by parents. The points can be turned in later for rewards like screen time, allowance, or a new video game, also set by the parents.
Sanja Zepan, Co-Founder of Homey, was living with her partner and several students in Slovenia when they made a mockup of their application in Photoshop and posted it on Instagram with the tag #DIYChoreChart. “Moms started writing to us saying ‘hey where is this? I can’t find it in the app store’ and we’re like ‘it’s not in the app store’,” Zepan said with a laugh. After that, Zepan and her Co-Founder Sašo Pompe created a landing page that drew 500 families to sign up before the Homey app launched in January. They began searching for accelerators online, and ultimately decided on StartCo. Zepan, Pompe, and their developers Vid Staric and Sandi Mihelic moved to Memphis as their first trip to the United States. The Homeys, as they lovingly refer to themselves, are now most of the way through StartCo’s Upstart Accelerator, designed to support women-led startup teams. Each of the Upstart companies receive $25K in seed funding as well as countless hours of classes, mentorship and opportunity for growth.
Homey’s Facebook page features several videos of mom bloggers reviewing the app glowingly. Speaking to the decision to market through bloggers rather than traditional advertisements, Zepan says “parents trust other parents, especially with technology and kids. A TV commercial wouldn’t work as well for us.”
Zepan says her team plans to stay in Memphis after the accelerator wraps on August 11. “The community comes together here. We’ve met people from companies like FedEx, AutoZone. I have a feeling we can reach out to them – they’re one person away, one intro away. I feel that StartCo is bringing people together,” Zepan said.
The Homey app is available for free download on iOS and Android. You can learn more about the company at their
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