about $21 million from angel investors and strategic partners. But Cape says its revenue has more than doubled over last year, and is expected to “significantly increase” next year. Being focused on families has its advantages, but it also has a smaller overall market than a more general-purpose app. Online organizers like Springpad and Evernote, while quite different from Cozi, share some of its challenges.
The biggest hurdle for Cozi, as with most consumer tech startups, is getting more people to use its tools. That’s why the company needs to keep signing on prominent partners that have massive distribution. “These types of moves and developments are ultimately going to drive the most important thing for the company, which is adoption. Our biggest challenge right now is getting the word out,” Cape says. “Spreading the word to this very busy demographic [families] is our number-one priority in the coming year—making sure we’re available to them across every dimension of their life.”
There are a few other developments to watch in the coming year. One will be the “phenomenally explosive” adoption of smartphones by women—especially busy moms, Cape says. (There are roughly 80 million mothers in the U.S.; and the total number of U.S. women with smartphones increased from about 10 million in 2008 to 26 million in 2009.) So Cozi needs to position itself as the best family organizer out there on smartphones, as well as other devices, he says.
Another trend will be the increasing use of tablets and other devices in the home; it seems pretty clear that the iPad is not the only answer here. And lastly, Cozi is looking to make some announcements around its international expansion in the next few months.
“We have all we need to get to profitability,” Cape says.
Still, he says, he’ll be out talking to investors next year, looking to raise “a little bit of a buffer” for that next big step in the journey.
