Baby Guide — a startup that creates individualized development plans for children based on AI

Kubatbek Abdrakhman uulu, city — Bishkek, co-founder and CTO, Instagram

How it all started

I am the technical director of the startup Baby Guide. Before that, I was a fullstack developer with six years of experience, working for Russian, American, Canadian, and Kyrgyz companies, and fulfilling orders for startups and outsourcing companies. All my previous programming experience helped me when I transitioned to working on the startup.

The idea for the startup belongs to my wife, Gulbadam Madanbekova, my co-founder. She has six years of experience in project coordination and management. In late 2022, we had a son, and we faced numerous problems related to finding information about child care.

We realized that although there is a lot of information, it is difficult to determine its relevance, expertise, and applicability to a specific child. We decided to create a product that would help parents develop their children, considering that health and development are established in early childhood. Thus, we came to the creation of Baby Guide.

Baby Guide is a mobile application with video courses from experts: speech therapists, pediatricians, psychologists, and massage therapists. The app features a speech therapist course that teaches parents how to stimulate speech in children at home, which helps parents of children aged three to five. Our experts also share recommendations on communicating with children during crisis periods. Additionally, we have an online service available 24/7, where pediatricians consult parents at any time, including weekends and holidays.

The main innovation of Baby Guide lies in the use of artificial intelligence. It creates individual development plans for children. Parents receive daily notifications about what needs to be done: massage, exercises, or speech development games. This helps discipline parents and ensure regularity, which ultimately improves results. Our experts are certified specialists with medical education and years of experience.

Launching the startup

We started in June 2024, conducted market analysis, CustDev, and a survey among 500 parents to understand their needs, and also spoke with doctors.

In July, we began filming video courses and developing the application. At the moment, the application is in the beta testing phase and will soon be available on Google Play and App Store. However, we have already started offering video courses and launched online pediatrics via WhatsApp, without waiting for the app's release.

We offer different options. For example, we have a subscription for online consultations with a pediatrician for 2500 som per month, and if you subscribe for six months, the price drops to 1700 som per month.

This is much cheaper than offline visits to a pediatrician. Video courses are also available at reasonable prices: the massage course costs 6000 som, the speech therapy course is 5000 som, the psychology course is 3000 som, and the pediatric course is 5000 som. These courses remain available to users forever.

The Team

In our team, I am responsible for the technical side, while Gulbadam Madanbekova handles sales and communication with experts. She also monitors content quality. We also have a team of operators and editors who film and edit video courses, as well as a designer and another developer. We have four experts on our team: a pediatrician, a speech therapist, a psychologist, and a massage therapist. Additionally, four pediatricians work with us, consulting parents online.

Achievements

Mostly, women aged 25 to 34, mostly mothers, contact us. Although initially we expected only first-time mothers to reach out, we also receive inquiries from those who already have children.

At the moment, we conduct both offline and online events manually. We have already held several masterclasses. The first was dedicated to childbirth preparation for pregnant women, and more than 30 people participated. The second masterclass was about postpartum depression, with about 20 participants.

We held an online masterclass on introducing solid foods for children, with 12–15 participants. The first three masterclasses were free, while the last one was paid, lasted three hours, and was dedicated to actions in emergency situations, including injuries, bleeding, choking, and heart problems.

Fifteen people attended the paid masterclass, which we held for $100. So far, two people have bought our video courses, and five people have subscribed to the 24/7 online pediatric service.

Challenges

When we started this journey, I understood that difficulties were inevitable. They come every day, and when you solve one problem, a new one immediately appears. It's like a new challenge, but every time you overcome it, you see new opportunities for growth. One of the most difficult tasks is applying to programs. Each time, you need to fill out huge applications with different questions, which takes several days. It's hard to promote yourself, to tell people in a way that makes them believe in us and our product.

Another difficulty is funding. We operate entirely on our own funds, which is challenging because at the end of May, I decided to quit my job to focus entirely on the startup, while my wife continues to work to provide finances for the family and also dedicates a lot of time to our startup. We work day and night, there are many tasks, and they need to be solved quickly to reach break-even.

Regarding our achievements, I am proud that we are moving quickly. When we talk about what we have already done—launched the app, courses—many people are surprised. This shows that we know how to combine speed and quality. And, of course, I appreciate the people we have managed to attract to the project. They are our big achievement. I hope that by the end of the year, we will be able to share even more significant successes.

Incubation Programs

We took fifth place in the Unicorn startup competition among 30 participants. This competition is organized to send startups to the USA.

We also took second place in the Startup Nation competition, which had more than 264 teams. As a prize, we received a grant of $3000.

Another achievement is that we passed into the Antler acceleration program—one of the best global programs for startups. The program selects only 60–80 startups from 1000 applications.

We continue to participate in other competitions. At the moment, we are undergoing acceleration, during which the best among 18 startups will be selected. The finals will take place in November, and we will compete for investments.

Plans

Our plans until the end of the year are quite ambitious. First of all, we aim to attract investments, which will allow us to expand into new markets—Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. We also want to launch in Southeast Asia. For this, we need to translate our content into English and make it available with English subtitles. Additionally, next year we hope to launch the startup in the US to continue scaling in that market.

Regarding further development, we see one of the key tasks in supporting parents with children suffering from autism and cerebral palsy. In Bishkek, for example, there is only one center—ABC—which is overcrowded, and parents have to cope on their own. We want to focus on creating solutions that can support such parents, providing them with the necessary tools and help. This, in my opinion, will be an important step in the development of our startup and will provide real assistance to those in need.