Morty CEO and co-founder Andy Bauch
We may be digitally connected more than ever, but according to research, people feel lonelier than ever. It can be especially hard for those in the so-called fringe nerdy groups. However, nerd culture has gone mainstream as more and more people indulge in “geeky” activities, from playing video games to participating in “fandoms.”
It was a desire to tackle both the growing geek economy and the crushing loneliness imposed by Covid that led former software engineer Andy Bauch to mortyan online network where geeks can find the best geek culture activities, from escape rooms and haunted attractions to immersive theatre, connect with others and record their adventures together.
Bauch describes Morty as “an authentic home to help people get out from behind their screens and come together, just like Reddit or Discord, but in real life (IRL).” Initially he focused on the escape room market, but now he focuses on other activities and pursuits. Having raised seed-level investment, he plans to expand in the US and internationally.
He had previously worked at Disney and several early stage startups, but it was his passion for making crazy LEGO artwork who embraced nerd and pop culture and won commissions from celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Beyoncé who became his inspiration for Morty.
“I’ve done a number of interactive shows, including six weeks at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, building huge pieces over and over with hundreds of people,” he says. “It was art on a massive scale, and it made me realize how much people wanted to get together. They want gamified IRL experiences that can compete with their phones in terms of attention and engagement. It got me thinking about what else nerds like me spend our money on?
In 2020 he started coming up with ideas, initially focusing on escape rooms. Then Covid hit. Conceptually, however, he was so passionate about the idea that he continued to work on it with his co-founder Karlis Lapsins during the pandemic. In late 2021, with Morty in Beta, Bauch also raised some seed capital from General Catalyst and ANIMO Ventures.
“While venture capital can spark many new industries, investors are also known to have a herd mentality and follow what other people invest in, and in those days anything IRL wasn’t cool,” says Bauch. “We were lucky to find some great investors who saw the loneliness epidemic as huge.”
Since its launch on the app store last May, the network has had strong appeal. “Morty has every escape room in over 30 countries,” says Bauch. “People love that we allow them to find each other and do the things they love, which gives us steady growth through word of mouth,” says Bauch.
Morty’s initial niche of escape room players in Southern California quickly proved an effective bridge to other communities such as board players and Comic-Con goers. This prompted Bauch to make plans to expand in the US and abroad, making money within escape rooms and expanding into other industries including arcades, immersive arts, immersive theater, speakeasies and bars.
“When it comes to monetization, a marketplace is probably the best way to go,” says Bauch. “We generate approximately $500,000 in monthly bookings to vacate our users’ rooms. People can now access Morty through the app or the web. With all the business we do, plus some value added extras we offer, there is a win-win revenue model between us, escape room players and escape room creators.
The Morty community is growing and Bauch’s vision to strengthen it is to create more interactive in-app content and gamification where members can earn experience points and compete against each other.
An exciting development is the ‘unbundling’ of the theme park model, creating smaller interactive attractions in smaller locations around the world. For example, Universal is planning a horror experience for Las Vegas and a theme park for families with young children in Frisco, a suburb of Dallas.
More importantly, says Bauch, are the barriers to building Disney-caliber interactive experiences. He says: “Ten years ago you needed special equipment to create experiences that can control light and video, sound and touch. Nowadays this can be done with a relatively small budget. Disney Imagineering is aware of the trend; Universal is opening smaller theme parks and is also aware of the trend. Ultimately, they can’t compete with individuals who can open cool stuff wherever they are. It’s Morty’s job to connect everything together, so we’re excited about the future.”
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