Hannah Oiknine does not have a public relations background. Nor does she have any journalism experience.
That wouldn't be particularly noteworthy if it weren't for the fact that Oiknine is the co-founder and CEO of a startup serving precisely those industries.
Her sister Sarah Azan, on the other hand, is well-versed in the pain points of those professions. Once, when the two were headed to dinner, Oiknine noticed Azan spending 40 minutes calling back reporters who'd never responded to her emails.
“She had to call each reporter one by one, and I asked her if she had any other tools to help her,” said Oiknine. But Azan had only her phone and her email to reach out to the press.
For Oiknine — an entrepreneur on the prowl for a big idea — this was an aha moment. In search of a more streamlined approach, she got to work on what would become Babbler, a social platform connecting reporters with PR pros.
The sisters launched the French startup in 2012 to strengthen a company’s PR strategy when doing outreach to the press. The platform allows companies and PR agencies to indicate which sectors they promote and post potential story angles and pitches with searchable hashtags.
Meanwhile, reporters can create profiles showcasing their particular beats. Then, Babbler's algorithm matches PR professionals with reporters and bloggers who best fit their needs, providing an online space to build relationships and connections with the appropriate people.
Oiknine said the benefit is two-fold: reporters receive more relevant pitches for stories they'd cover while PR agents waste less time blasting stories out to media outlets that aren't a good fit.
"You can find a solution for just PR or just reporters, but there is no PR network to solve both problems and help them communicate in a better way,” said Oiknine. “We tried to find the one product that could solve both issues from both sides.”
Oiknine said Babbler has signed up 900 companies and 5,000 reporters, mostly based in France. Following a $2 million Series A round last May, Babbler is gearing up to penetrate the American market — the largest PR industry in the world — with a U.S. base in Austin.
“We’ve already generated $750k in revenue in France for 2017,” said Oiknine. “We’ve proved the concept in France, now we need to prove it in another country.”
Oiknine recently moved to Austin with her husband, an Austinite she'd met in Paris. And two weeks ago, she began the Techstars Austin accelerator program to lay out the groundwork for Babbler’s U.S. rollout.
When the program is over, Oiknine said she plans to keep Babbler's U.S. office in Austin and expand the team locally. Right now, the company has about 18 employees based in their French office.
“The tech scene in Austin is pretty exciting,” said Oiknine. “There are a lot of things happening here, and it’s a great place for a startup to launch and evolve.”
Image provided by Babbler.
Have a news tip for us or know of a company that deserves coverage? Tell us or tweet @BuiltInAustin.
