It’s often referred to as the “Tinder for moms.” Peanut, a GPS-enabled app that matches moms based on location and common interests, finally launched in Australia in August. It’s a social network for mothers to chat, meet up with, share and learn from like-minded women. Just like a dating platform, when two moms “wave” to each other on Peanut, they match, and can start chatting or plan an in-person meeting.
In the first two weeks since Peanut launched in Australia, over 5,000 women signed up in Sydney alone, and the app was featured twice on the App Store as ‘App of the Day’ and ‘The Mother of all Social Networks.’
Peanut’s popularity in Sydney has been acknowledged by some of Australia’s most empowering mums, including Lindy Klim, Jules Sebastian, Talitha Cummins, Laura Csortan, and Amber Sherlock. Peanut’s overall success reiterates the fact that it provides women with a network when they need it the most, and it’s set to transform the way new mothers meet and interact.
Peanut was founded in 2017 by Michelle Kennedy – who’s been part of the tech industry for a while and was integral in the launch of the dating app Bumble. As a mum, Michelle realised that while her friends were hanging out in late in clubs, she was scouring the internet for blogs that would shed some light on why her baby wouldn’t sleep. In an effort to meet other like-minded mums while working, Michelle decided to use her experience with social networks to create a product that makes being a mum a little less lonely.
With Peanut’s soaring popularity in Sydney, Michelle is now committed to helping mothers all over Australia: “We have seen an incredible uptake of Peanut since our launch in Sydney. Over 5,000 mamas swiped and connected in just the first 2 weeks. This is a testament to the fact that women want and need to connect with one another, and we’re so thrilled that Sydney has been so excited about Peanut. We can’t wait for Peanut to take the rest of Australia by storm, and we’re excited to see thousands of women connect and support each other as they raise the future!”
Peanut’s tech is simple but very efficient – their algorithm introduces women based on common interests, mutual friends, languages, the age and gender of their children, and educational background, among other things. The app puts machine learning to good use, and uses a smart algorithm (à la Netflix) to understand each user’s behaviour in the app, thereby giving every user-mom a personally curated and customised experience. Each user’s engagement with the app also ensures that it works as a social barometer for trending topics across the community.
With the use of GPS location, Peanut’s ‘Discover’ function helps users find mums nearby, who share their common interests. The app also includes various features designed to make the experience as seamless as possible, including:
- Group chats.
- The ability to suggest and poll meetup times.
- Post and comment on photos.
- Send invites and add them straight into your calendar.
There’s also the Peanut’s Pages function (a Quora-like forum which was released earlier this year), which encourages women to have conversations beyond the most common topics of motherhood, by posting questions under a range of topics such as ‘Health & Fitness’, ‘Love & Sex’, and ‘Work & Money’.
