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With dating apps like Tinder and Hinge at your fingertips, speed dating seems like an outdated concept. When new mom Robin Hieatt moved to Austin and was seeking friends who were also mothers, she saw an opportunity to revamp and modernize that old concept for a new demographic.
Hieatt was the first in her group of friends to have a baby, so she didn’t have a network of people to discuss topics that only moms would know the answer to and enjoy talking about. She wanted to meet people she could talk with about being a parent, especially in her local area, about everything from childcare to activities to the best teething rings, but who also shared her sense of humor and would generally end up being a great friend.
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Meeting mothers at the park wasn’t cutting it — it’s not easy to get into a meaningful conversation when you’re inevitably interrupted by your children. Hieatt searched to see if anything existed that could help her out in September 2014, and when she didn’t find anything that interested her, she decided to throw an event for moms in the community to try out her concept. The first event was a success, and Moms Matched quickly took off when she was discovered by TODAY, which spurred several requests from Moms around the globe.
“I knew this was something that just makes sense,” Hieatt said. “With everything moms are juggling with family, work, and their home, I think this is just a really fun and efficient way to meet other moms who are also upfront about what they’re looking for.”
After realizing the opportunity and seeing there was product-market fit, Hieatt began building the product with a developer and is actively seeking a cofounder and a seed round of investment. They hope to have the new product on the market soon, which will host online “speed dating” events where Moms can meet for a short period of time and eventually receive the contact information and matches from the event.
So far, Hieatt has found that 100 percent of participants would recommend the service to a friend, and about 50% said they’ve found their “mom friend forever” through the service. With such good feedback, she’s looking forward to scaling the service nationally.
“I’ve talked a lot with moms around the country who want this where they are,” Hieatt said. “It’s been so rewarding for me because of that. I’m in this new phase of my life and being connected with moms that have the same needs is so important.”
Hieatt admits the tech scene is new territory for her, but she’s excited for the challenge.
“I feel really fortunate to be in the Austin startup community,” she said. “I think it’s fantastic how willing most people are to help, and how understanding they are of the work it takes and the intensity of trying to pull together everything to make it successful.”
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