Doc Brown. Doctor Who. Michael McCluney? Sending messages to the future is now more than mere science fiction with the use of a simple and clever app – Incubate: The Time-Delay Messenger. Founded by McCluney, Incubate allows users to schedule and send text, image, video, or voice messages 60 seconds to 25 years into the future.
Cool Concept Becomes Powerful Product
“The idea came to me after speaking with a former college roommate whose wife recently had triplets. After hearing some of the antics of his late nights, I suggested that he record these moments and share them with his kids when they were older,” said McCluney. “But after some research, I found that there wasn’t a solution for this, so, I set out to create my own.”
Through Incubate, a user can capture a moment, select a recipient and set a time in the future. The hope, said McCluney, is to amplify the meaning or sentimentality that occurs through timed messages. As a result, the service presently locks scheduled deliveries so that users take the service seriously. “It has less meaning if people can take a message back at any time,” said McCluney, who noted that users may be able to ‘earn’ message retractions in the future.
App Appeal
Since launching earlier this year, the app has seen exponential growth thanks to its far-reaching user demographics. Incubate acts as a blast from the past with brides sending wedding day memories 10 years in the future, college students sharing party antics from last semester, or grandparents offering wisdom beyond the grave.
“We’ve seen a wide range of use cases, particularly from high school and college level students capturing shenanigans and using the app as a way to capture fun things that they can relive with friends later on,” said McCluney. “We also see a high level of use from older demographics who leave life messages to people after they are gone. A lot of people are gravitating to it, and this has led us to a forthcoming redesign which will make it easier for all age groups to use the app.”
The strongest response has come from brides, who have driven the startup to develop Incubate Our Wedding, a new web portal that will be the app’s first monetized product. The “digital time capsule for your wedding” will allow soon-to-be couples to upload wedding guests’ emails to create users who can then instantly capture big day memories and in a minute or less schedule their delivery.
Incubate also allows parents to send future messages to children through the use of an Incubate Nursery account (with the full understanding that your adorable toddler likely does not have a phone or tablet yet). Parents or family members can create unique email addresses for children to access in the future and then schedule every memorable moment of childhood to hand-picked dates and times.
Attaboy Atlanta
The Incubate team works from the halls of the Atlanta Tech Village. “It’s an incredible startup ecosystem and has truly been phenomenal for us,” said McCluney, who spoke pridefully about founding an Atlanta-based startup.
“While some competitors have crept up recently, there wasn’t really a product like ours before we came along. We take competition as an endorsement of our product idea.”
Can’t wait to capture life moments (this holiday season) with simple taps and clicks? Download Incubate: The Time-Delay Messenger. Also, check out news about its developments and updates, including one scheduled through the Apple Store in just a few days, through the Incubate Facebook account.
