As a recent new mom, I make finding the best products, toys, food, and more for the baby a full-time job. For example, when I was shopping for baby strollers, I emailed anyone and everyone who had a baby in the past two years and created a Google spreadsheet of all the top strollers, with prices and ratings and reviews from friends. The fact is that product recommendations from fellow parents are invaluable. SunnyBump, a new Chicago-based startup that has been incubated by Lightbank with $375,000 in funding, wants to bring these conversations online. The site is essentially a Pinterest for expecting/new parents where you can actually purchase items straight from the site.
You can discover, collect, share (or “bump”) and buy all types of products related to your new baby. You can follow other people, read reviews and recommendations/advice from the community of parents, industry experts, brands and manufacturers.
Similar to Pinterest, each user has a profile where saved and shared items will appear, and users can also create themed collections. Users can even create a baby registry or “wish list”of gifts.
As the founders explain to me, one of the unique aspects of what they are trying to do is actually get expert advice on products, and have partnered with parenting experts such as Baby Gizmo, Sara Haley, Grandparents.com, and Lactation Partners to source products.
From a monetization standpoint, baby product manufacturers like Bugaboo, Baby Jogger, and Bumbleride, are also participating in the site to showcase their recommendations.
As we mentioned above, what separates Sunnybump from some of the competitors (including Pinterest) is that you can actually buy all the items listed on the site online. Brands like this, say the founders, because recommendations and sharing can turn into real conversions.