Panda-Powered Productivity: Employees at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta & Google Atlanta Turn To Startup My Panda

Tamara Lucas started My Panda because she knows everyone can use some help with their to-do list. The Atlanta-based personal assistant app found an eager customer base: Busy parents who wanted to enlist the help of assistants (known as Pandas) to keep up with the daily tasks like folding laundry, walking the dog, and emptying the dishwasher.

But last year, Lucas expanded her offerings into the employee benefit space. That was a strategic move, given that companies are looking for new and innovative ways to improve employee satisfaction and retention.

Lucas told Hypepotamus that My Panda is currently available as a “discounted employee perk” at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Google's Atlanta office, and LOCAL Industries.

Circles by Sodexo, an internal concierge team that services Wellstar Health System, hired Pandas to help with holiday gift-wrapping.

Common service requests include sorting through seasonal clothes for kids and taking old ones to be donated, assisting with packing for a move, tidying up living spaces, and picking up a pet’s medication from the vet.

The marketplace has put up some important and impressive metrics recently. 88% of users are repeat customers. And in an important sign of traction, most new customers join through word of mouth.

Gaining Traction and Support

At its heart, My Panda’s technology is all about connecting and helping community members. So it makes sense that the community has rallied to help her raised needed capital.

Earlier this year Lucas turned to WeFunder, a crowdfunding platform that is popular in the startup world.

“I decided to launch the Community Round on WeFunder because I heard from many customers and supporters that they would love to be a part of our growth, but they weren't accredited investors and only had a little money to contribute,” she added. “Having a supportive and engaged community of support is a crucial first step in succeeding with this type of funding and we have that in spades.  Getting started on the WeFunder platform and spinning up the campaign was surprisingly simple and quick and their support team has been outstanding.”

My Panda raised $50K in just over 2 weeks. Nearly half of that money came from customers, current Pandas, and family members of current Pandas, Lucas told Hypepotamus. Other backers are local Atlanta founders and those interested in dipping their toes into angel investing. To date, over 60 people have financially backed the platform.

“It was beyond thrilling and exciting to give these people who have been a huge part of our growth a chance to benefit financially from that growth,” she added.

Helping Power My Panda

On top of the WeFunder campaign, My Panda also recently received funding through the Invest Atlanta Growth Startup Loan Program.

“These two sources of funding have completely changed our trajectory.  We have been able to implement UX/UI improvements in our app. The plans for these have been in the works for nearly a year. As soon as the WeFunder money hit, we got them done quickly.”

The funding also helped Lucas launch new distribution channels and bring on a marketing team.

“Getting access to this relatively small amount of capital is a complete game changer.  We have gotten accustomed to being extremely scrappy and working on a shoestring budget. So we are going to make these dollars go a long way. We are shooting for profitability before the end of the year," she added.

With a bit of funding behind her, Lucas is ready to grow even more in 2024. She is looking to secure more pilots with other companies looking to expand their employee benefit offerings. This might be any company looking to “support their employees as they return to the office, reducing their stress and burnout, and are striving to retain and attract quality talent, especially women.”

For those looking to financially back Lucas and the team, My Panda’s WeFunder campaign is open until the end of March.