Larky launches new mobile app, expands employee base

Mobile-app start-up Larky has publicly launched its newest app and is growing its small staff to make it a success. The downtown Ann Arbor-based company is creating an app that helps consumers maximize their membership perks and loyalty programs. The app alerts them when they are eligible for savings or discounts through things like alumni association memberships. Many of these reward programs are highly underutilized because of consumer ignorance or forgetfulness of their existence. Larky's technology looks to remind consumers of these perks at the point of purchase. So far, 10 major organizations with access to 50 million consumers have signed on and Larky is looking to lock down a few thousand more in the next few months. "We built this to be used on a very large scale," says Gregg Hammerman, co-founder of Larky. "We are proud to be based in Michigan and to have Michigan partners, but we want to scale to millions of members." Larky landed $650,000 in seed capital earlier this year. It has a staff of three full-time employees and another three part-timers. The full-time employees include the company's two co-founders and one Adams Entrepreneur Fellowship Program fellow. "He has been enormously helpful," Hammerman says. "He has helped us grow a lot." Source: Gregg Hammerman, co-founder of Larky Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.