about blinkko labs
Eyes up. Phone down.
The most connected generation in history spends most of its day looking down. Blinkko is a shoulder-worn pet for the real world: a small glowing creature that rides on your shoulder, notices the world with you, and makes saying hi to a stranger feel normal again.
where it started
It began as an app for remembering pets.
Blinkko Labs was founded in November 2025 around a different idea: an app for memorializing pets. It was personal — everyone on the team lives with a pet, and a few of us with several. Early users kept telling us the same thing. They didn't want a keepsake on a screen; they wanted something they could touch and carry. So we started building one.
senior comfort engineer.
the review board.
field research.
birthday, observed.
shipping blocker.
media training.To figure out what a physical companion is actually for, we filmed a plush prototype in real settings: at work, at meals, on the commute, and in a park, meeting a stranger who happened to carry the same one. That encounter got an overwhelming response, and it changed what we were building.
People didn't want another thing to talk to. They wanted a reason to talk to each other.
who it's for
Gen Z has endless ways to chat, and no easy way to say hi.
You can reach anyone on earth from your bed and still not know how to start a conversation across a café. That isn't a chat problem; it's a permission problem. Blinkko is a permission signal you wear. When two Blinkkos cross paths, they notice each other first, so the humans don't have to make the first move alone.
It speaks in light and small movements, never words. There is no camera on board, the microphone has a physical off switch in its ear, and presence is sensed with a tiny radar instead of a lens. Built for a generation that has every reason to be careful, and every reason to go out anyway.
three ways to explore
Explore the world
A city map that lights up where you've been. Check-ins, small quests, and gentle nudges toward places worth your feet. Going outside becomes something you can collect.
Explore connections
Two Blinkkos in the same room notice each other. A glance, a glow, a bump to trade contact cards. Low pressure to approach, easy to decline.
Explore yourself
Blinkko senses your rhythm and mood and answers in light. Over time you see what your days actually look like, and where they could go.
the team
Designer hackers, mostly.
Founded by Sophia Shen out of Apple and backed by MiraclePlus, Blinkko Labs pairs hardware design from Harvard GSD with software engineering from Silicon Valley tech labs, and growth from Berkeley, Kellogg, Stanford, and MIT. We call ourselves designer hackers: people who sketch the thing and then build it, who care about how a plush ear feels as much as how long a glow lasts on a battery.
Every one of us has moved cities or countries and rebuilt a social life from zero. Blinkko is the thing we wished we'd had when we got there.
what blinkko can't do
Privacy, by Design
A switch you can feel
The microphone has a physical off switch hidden in Blinkko's ear. Off means off.
Presence without pictures
Nearby motion is sensed with a small mmWave radar, which detects movement without capturing images.
Your map, your call
Location features are opt-in, with public and private modes and full deletion in the app.
so far
Blinkko Labs is founded
A pet memorial app, briefly. Then hardware.
The first prototype meets the internet
A waitlist in the thousands, fan art, love letters, and a Discord that started narrating Blinkko's world back to us.
Pre-orders open
$169 through September 30, then $219.
Launch, San Francisco
The first time Blinkko meets a room full of people.
The first Blinkkos ship
Taco, Mochi, and Sesame go outside for real.