Balancing business demands with relationship reality

Pictured above: Erika Palmer.

Co-Founder of relationship management app, Cupla, Erika Palmer on the often elusive work-life balance, inspired by her own business journey growing a start-up.

At the heart of Cupla’s mission is the goal of enhancing the quality of time couples spend together. For Erika and her Co-founder and partner, Will, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is crucial. “The single most important thing we do is to carve out dedicated quality time for one another that lives in our calendars and is non-negotiable,” Erika says. 

This principle is central to Cupla’s design, reflecting their belief that relationships deserve as much priority as other commitments.

The couple’s approach involves scheduling regular, intentional time together, whether it’s a pre-work walk or a coffee date. This consistency, Erika says, is key to nurturing their relationship amidst the demands of running a young and growing business. Their personal experience of overcoming scheduling conflicts and missed dates inspired the development of Cupla, aiming to reduce friction and enhance relationship satisfaction for couples globally.

 “We realised that if we could eliminate the everyday friction, couples would have more capacity for quality time,” Erika says. This insight shaped Cupla’s mission to simplify and improve relationship management through shared calendars, to-do lists, and reminders for special dates.

Building Cupla not only involved leveraging their own experiences but also creating a business model that supports a balanced life for their team. Erika highlights the importance of embodying the values Cupla promotes, ensuring that both they and their team can live integrated lives, despite the demanding nature of business life.

Finding funding

Securing funding for a consumer-focused start-up in New Zealand back in 2020 – when Cupla was founded – presented unique challenges. “The New Zealand investment landscape is predominantly geared towards B2B SaaS,” Erika says. “There’s a lack of experience with B2C tech products, particularly apps, which made securing investment for Cupla challenging.”

The couple faced difficulties with local investors who were unfamiliar with the consumer market’s metrics and risks. “We spent too much time engaging with investors whose focus was not aligned with our sector,” Erika recalls. In contrast, international B2C-focused funds offered more relevant discussions and support, highlighting a gap in the New Zealand investment ecosystem.

Since its launch in 2022, Cupla has had over 250,000 downloads with users in 150 different countries and a 4.7 user rating across the app stores.

A pivotal moment came at the end of 2023 when Cupla conducted its first relationship survey with Dr. Jessica Maxwell. The results were compelling, with 75 percent of users reporting reduced stress and friction in their relationships due to Cupla. This validation of Cupla’s impact helped bolster investor confidence.

As Cupla enters its next growth phase, particularly with plans to integrate AI, Erika and Will are focused on securing funding that goes beyond just capital. 

“We raised a modest amount of funding early in Cupla’s journey and have been hyper efficient with this. We have been able to consistently grow users (and revenue) organically, whilst continuing to develop our product, and our metrics now suggest we have strong product-market-fit. 

“The next phase is about accelerating our growth. We’re looking for investors who can provide access to talent and networks, especially in the US, where the bulk of our customers are.”  

This article was originally published in the September 2024 issue of NZBusiness magazine. To read the issue, click here.