When five Pittsburgh mothers met by chance through their young children, they didn’t just form a mommy group. They formed a startup.
The mission was to “make it as easy as possible for moms to meet other new moms,” says CEO Vanessa Jameson.
They knew from experience how hard that can be. And they valued the lifeline support of their friendship. So much so that they decided to “bring change and help others find the support that they need.”
Jameson—who spent seven years as a Google software engineer—founded Covey, a location-sensitive mobile app that helps to introduce local moms without advance planning. With Covey, local moms, parents and caregivers can do everything from scheduling a play-date to finding a walking partner to forming a social or support group.
The result, as Jameson notes, will help to connect busy parents and build local communities around all aspects of child rearing.
The coincidental friends turned Covey founders also include Jessica Ghilani, university professor; Paige Beauchemin, registered nurse; Sarah Aerni, stay-at-home-mom; and Julie Butcher Pezzino, director of Grow Pittsburgh.
Currently in AlphaLab’s 13th cycle of launching startups, Covey is slated to begin as an Android-only app, with plans to expand its platforms. In early August, they launched the Covey Neighborhood Contest on their blog. Participants were asked to vote for the Pittsburgh neighborhood in which they would most like the Covey app to debut.
The results are in, with the Highland Park/East Liberty/Morningside area winning the privilege of testing the app first. Tied for second place and scheduled to inaugurate Covey next will be the Regent Square/Point Breeze/Homewood area and the Lawrenceville/Stanton Heights area. Eventually they plan to roll out to all of Pittsburgh and to other cities.
This past Saturday, at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination, Covey held its first of many local events aimed at bringing moms together and introducing the app to Pittsburgh neighborhoods. And on September 11, they will be featured at NEXTpittsburgh’s What’s Next for Tech? event at Alpha Lab Gear, as part of the Thrival Innovation + Music Festival.
Covey, known by definition as a flock of small birds that gather together, will help to bring support and togetherness to Pittsburgh parents.
“It embodies the spirit of what we are doing,” says Jameson.