April 28, 2020, Marlborough, MA – letsbutterfly, Inc. (https://letsbutterfly.com); a Marlborough-based research and development startup lab with a vision of introducing new technologies catered to the services business industry, announced today that it closed a funding round from a group of local investors. The first project from their labs, Wings (https://mywings.app), is also launching to the public today, introducing the first-ever live bi-directional communication platform to the services industry.
While project "Wings" (https://letsbutterfly.com/wings) has been under R&D for two years, the team made a quick decision in March to create and explicitly release a base version of the project as a response to the Covid-19 crisis. letsbutterfly's goal with Wings is to offer assistance for the service businesses across the country, and the world, with a more direct, and in the moment, real-time communication with their consumers.
During this crisis, it has become difficult for many to know and share critical details, such as opening hours, inventory levels, service types, delivery/takeout options, wait-times, service times, sanitizer availability, allowed capacity, and more. Such information is changing day-to-day and often by the hour. Wings app consolidates all this information into a single, simple web-based service, in real-time, supporting all desktop and portable devices and operating systems, so that businesses and consumers are always on the same page — down to the millisecond. In addition to Wings being in English, it also offers internationalization support for Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), and Arabic. Any existing business can use the service right away and start communicating with customers; there is currently no cost to use the platform for either a business or as a consumer. Moreover, letsbutterfly believes AI, blockchain, and accessibility features are critical to empowering everyone in the services industry and will continue to invest appropriately with every release.
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John McKenna, owner and Managing Partner at Blacksocks Corp, a seasoned investment firm in early-stage startups catering to business services, sees the investment in letsbutterfly as a logical and needed move. "We're investing in a platform that we believe is transformative for services businesses of all stripes, not only now, during the pandemic, but for the future," said McKenna. Moreover, "letsbutterfly has the potential to be the future of a transparent bi-directional real-time communication platform, powered by AI, for the service industry, unlike anything before — it's a
paradigm shift. We’re committed to bringing this investment to $1 million in order to accelerate innovation as quickly as possible."
Communication is most critical when businesses are not operating as planned or are in flux due to uncontrollable events. For example, if a business needs to close early, or suddenly could not offer a particular service, it is only a few taps away for such information to be broadcasted instantly out to consumers online. letsbutterfly plans to release more features in the coming weeks, such as a widget (Winglets) for businesses to embed onto their website displaying real-time status updates.
Haitham Al-Beik, founder and CEO of letsbutterfly, states that, "Everyone – businesses and consumers alike – have shared stories of frustration when it comes to daily tasks, whether it's finding a restaurant, scheduling an oil change, finding a plumber to fix a leak, understanding and matching appropriate services based on one's lifestyle, and more. It becomes even more frustrating when one of many services has unexpectedly changed or delayed causing a ripple effect to everything else planned for the day, week, or even month." Al-Beik continues, "All of which stems from weak or lack of proper communication. Evolving brick-and-mortar businesses to become programmable would be the first step in tying them to the digital world and internet-of-things, resulting in businesses becoming no different from software services applications. I see a services industry that's open, transparent, and accessible to everyone, and that presents itself up for more innovative opportunities, especially by replacing major frictions like phone calls, paper, and emails with cutting-edge technologies, such as AI and blockchain."
Our mission is to unite consumers and businesses with relevant services where letsbutterfly is the symbiotic link between them, placing an AI at each node to facilitate the best and most optimized communication. For example, when a consumer wants food at midnight, the platform will instantly bring up favorite dishes based on preference, allergies, diet, substitutions, while informing the exact wait time, delivery availability and timing, and finally, executable with a tap (or voice). Such an experience can exist with other sectors of the services industry, related to cars, homes, animals, and other lifestyle services.
letsbutterfly is rapidly developing its full platform for release later this year, which allows consumers to personalize their experience, place orders intelligently, and have unprecedented real-time transparency into a business's workflow. Companies will have access to an intention-driven client base, will benefit from a more seamless relationship with their consumers, and will glean valuable insights about their operations and their clientele.
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About letsbutterfly
Founded in 2019 by software and startup veterans, letsbutterfly's mission is to allow service businesses and consumers to communicate instantly and friction-free, transforming the way business is conducted by manifesting intentions into action. For more information, please visit https://letsbutterfly.com, or contact Haitham Al-Beik, CEO, at 508-847-8747, or albeik@letsbutterfly.com.
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