This entrepreneur ditched a dream job at HTC for a pink bunny named TuTu

Jason Warren, left, holds TuTu with the Roam and Wander team at TMI in Taipei

Startup founders often refer to their projects as “their babies” – implying that running a business requires the same amount of emotional attachment and effort as raising a child.

But for Jason Warren, CEO of the Taipei-based Roam & Wander, the business sort of is an actual baby – or rather, a pink bunny rabbit named TuTu.

“She’s on a schedule where she gets hungry sometimes and thirsty sometimes. So you need to feed her and take care of her,” says Warren, a thirty six–year-old HTC alumni, as I, a twenty-five-year-old hoodie-clad blogger, carefully hold a mini milk-bottle to TuTu’s touchscreen face, which is encased in a frame of pink fuzz.

“Since she just came out of the box, she’s really thirsty now,” Warren assures me. “Don’t worry, she’ll tell you when she’s had enough.”

Roam and Wander’s flagship product might be a furry stuffed animal, but the company has proven it’s about more than just playtime.

Last Friday, the team announced its third round of funding, once again led by Greater China-based WI Harper, along with Taiwan’s TMI, and new angel investors from KAMIA and the Marlion Group in Hong Kong.

In addition, the company has inked retail partnerships with the France-based FNAC, Amazon, Toys R’ US, and Studio A – the latter of which, for all practical purposes, serves as the Taiwan extension of Apple’s Hong Kong branch.

On top of that, TuTu just won the award for Best New Toy at the Hong Kong Game and Toy fair, which is taking place this week. Given the importance of that expo in the industry – Warren estimates over 2,500 companies have registered to attend – Roam and Wander seems poised for big things in 2014.

“We’ve had a ridiculous amount of success getting TuTu into stores,” Warren says. “Now we have the chance to focus more on getting consumers into those stores.”

The two-sided business plan

If you’ve used a Tamagotchi before, you’ll be familiar with the concept behind TuTu. Users who download the TuTu app from the App Store and activate it on their iPhones can insert the device into TuTu’s headframe to transform the stuffed bunny into a talking pet-friend. Users can feed and play with her using the accompanying toys, and she’ll say if she’s hungry or lonely. If you keep her happy, she’ll show her appreciation. And if you’re feeling a little lazy, you can let her play with her “magic ring,” which serves as “get out of jail free card” that restores her mood back to normal.

But Roam and Wander aims to be more than a toy company. One of the ways Roam and Wander distinguishes itself from other like-minded “smart toy” startups is through its ingenious business model.

Breaking the golden handcuffs