contractors. Though it’s a company in the Bizdom accelerator, it has foregone the standard Bizdom investment of up to $125,000 and instead raised $250,000 independently, mostly from angel investors. (StartGarden in Grand Rapids contributed $25,000.) The company will likely pursue more investment in the coming year. [An earlier version of this paragraph mistakenly said that the company had accepted investment from Bizdom. We regret the error.]
Birdhouse’s app could apply to a lot of other conditions that require extensive tracking, Chutz says, and that’s an idea the company hopes to explore in the near future. “We’re considering making apps for other disorders, but we’re focused on autism right now because we’re plugged in to the autism community,” he says.
Birdhouse for Autism, he says, is more like a family business than the typical tech startup. “We live the issues Birdhouse addresses every day,” he points out. “We have conversations with parents that have nothing to do with Birdhouse, and we have relationships all over the country. We understand. Autism is a lifelong disorder for many people, and we’re trying to build a community where families feel empowered and supported so they can be as educated as possible.”
