Milk Nanny hits Kickstarter, wants to save parents time mixing baby formula

Most smart gadgets end up making our lives more difficult by bombarding us with data that we don’t really know how to use. But one new startup is making something more useful – something which actually saves us time and effort. Today, that team is launching Milk Nanny on Kickstarter.

Milk Nanny wants to make it easier for new parents to concoct milk from powder formula. The basic idea is that you fill it with water and powder, and the gizmo does all the rest – puts in the right amount of each ingredient, mixes it, and then holds the milk in the bottle at the right temperature. There is, of course, an app.

James Filbird is the sole non-Chinese person in this Sino-American startup. Filbird, who has nigh on nine years experience in the tech startup industry in China, explains to Tech in Asia that Milk Nanny is first targeted at consumers in North America and Europe. He says that the Milk Nanny app has a barcode scanner that can recognize 95 percent of the world’s milk formula products, and that tells the gadget to adjust the measurements and heat accordingly.

Milk Nanny launched on Kickstarter hours ago, seeking US$100,000 in crowdfunding from early buyers. The cheapest deal gets you the gizmo for US$129, but the regular retail price will be closer to US$279 once it hits stores later this year.

Baby gizmos

“If you can build a brand in America, you can build it anywhere,” says Filbird, who hails from southern California. That’s why the startup is focusing on that market first, and already has a distributor set up ready for business after the Kickstarter is over. “Americanizing the company” is his job, he says, as the rest of the Chinese team seeks to construct a brand – under the Wicoz name – dedicated to child-related smart gadgets.

If they succeed in doing so, “the China market will come to us,” claims Filbird.

The CEO is Derrick Lee. His previous startup, Mobkid, means he has experience in software development and has contacts in the Shenzhen manufacturing industry after years of working with major firms like Lenovo and Haier.

Once Milk Nanny is out in the wild, the crew will start work on a smart bottle warmer, and also a mini version of Milk Nanny that’s small enough for parents to travel with. That’s all slated for about a year from now, Filbird (pictured below) explains. Looking even further ahead, they’ll start work on a smart baby monitor that’ll include things like motion detection which will keep an eye out for reduced breathing.

Wicoz COO James Filbird