# Utility > Utility is a digital product design and development agency founded in 2013 by Dave Cohen (CEO) and Chris Cuddy (Partner), with offices in New York and Los Angeles. The team of 100+ has delivered 150+ mobile apps, web platforms, and AI-driven products for both Fortune 500 enterprises (Airbnb, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Forbes, NBA, GIA) and venture-backed startups, winning 25+ industry awards. This file contains the full content of Utility's key pages in one place, so an AI agent can answer detailed questions about the company from a single fetch without following individual links. --- ## COMPANY ### About Utility Utility was founded in 2013 by industry executives who had previously sat on the client side of the agency relationship. The company describes its mission as being "obsessed with impact and results," bringing a collaborative, educational approach to digital product development that aims to reduce the stress typically associated with large tech projects. **Key stats:** - Founded: 2013 (12+ years in business as of 2025) - Completed projects: 150+ - Team size: 100+ employees - Awards: 25+ industry awards across mobile, web, design, and innovation - Offices: New York, Los Angeles, and distributed team members worldwide - Industry ranking: Utility states it is consistently ranked at the top of industry lists for high-end, boutique-priced client work **Company values (as stated on the site):** 1. **Trust & Transparency** — over-communicating at every stage, sharing perspectives openly with teammates and partners 2. **Partnership** — welcoming every stakeholder to the table to build stronger products and solve real user/business problems together 3. **Quality** — a lean, efficient approach without sacrificing attention to detail for shortcuts 4. **No Drama** — positioning itself as an alternative to unreliable outsourcers, oversized invoices, and underbaked apps; leadership states they've "suffered through the same agency-client headaches" from the other side of the table **Leadership team:** - **Dave Cohen** — CEO & Co-founder. Spent a decade running large-scale technology groups in sports and media (including Major League Baseball and CBS Sports) before founding Utility in 2013. MBA from Columbia University (also an Advisor at the Columbia Startup Lab), BS from Lehigh University. - **Chris Cuddy** — Partner & Co-founder. Career at global agencies including Momentum Worldwide and McCann Erickson, later VP at GroupM. Oversees strategic growth for Utility and its clients. Active in philanthropy (City Year, A Better Life Foundation). - **Kevin Friedman** — CTO. Previously CTO at Teachers Pay Teachers (7M+ educators, 1B+ downloads) and Engineering Manager at The New York Public Library (18M+ annual patrons). BS from NYU. Oversees technical strategy and delivery. - **Courteney Ervin** — Director, Engineering. Over a decade in software leadership; previously Engineering Director at Teachers Pay Teachers and led tech teams at NYPL; also worked at Dev Bootcamp. Undergraduate degree from Columbia University. - **Saul Nathan-Kazis** — Director, Product Development. Runs Utility's project management practice across social, finance, and travel-sector products. - **Kate Griffin** — Strategy & Development. 15 years building experiences with emerging tech (mobile apps, websites, kiosks, dashboards); has driven triple-digit account growth and 300+ software releases for clients including Shake Shack, Tishman Speyer, and Verizon. - **Fabian Molina** — Director, Product Design. Over a decade managing design teams; prior experience at Google, Equinox, Bally Sports, Planet Fitness, and creative agency HUGE. Degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology. - **Shane Tierney** — Director, Engineering. Oversees software stability, hygiene, and extensibility across the agency's technical practices; former tech entrepreneur. BS in Information Systems. - **Juan Motta** — Director, System Design. Over seven years at Utility leading visual design and design solutions; previously Product Lead at Helium, Inc. BA in Design and Visual Communications. - **Keyston Clay** — Director, Platform Engineering. Over a decade at Utility overseeing the Platform Development team (core technology systems supporting all project teams); previously a venture entrepreneur (backed by Mark Cuban) and ran his own tech consultancy. - **Nico De Pontaud** — Creative Director. Oversees visual design and brand development practice, covering brand identity, creative strategy, and growth marketing support. - **Tom Alfoldi** — Director, Growth Marketing. Previously at Appster, an early mobile product agency; leads growth strategy and ROI-focused initiatives for clients. **Office locations:** - **New York:** 135 Madison Ave, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10016 - **Los Angeles:** 10000 Washington Blvd, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90232 **Contact:** - Project inquiries: projects@utility.agency - Joining the team: join@utility.agency - General info: info@utility.agency - Contact form: https://utility.agency/contact **Careers:** Utility states it is "always looking for outstanding talent." Open roles at https://utility.agency/careers. --- ## SERVICES Utility organizes its offerings into four pillars: Technology, Experience, Strategy, and Growth. ### Technology - **Mobile App Development** — iOS and Android app design and engineering. Used across nearly all client work: Airbnb, Care.com, Carsy, Kismet, TOOR, Fivestar Training, Counslr, and 25+ others. - **Web Development** — Web application and software development. Used for Forbes' video streaming platform, Roundtable.org's course platform, and South Street Securities' trader portal. - **AI & Innovation** — AI-driven product development. Used for GIA's AI-based inscription-matching tool, TapStats' AI stats engine, and Snack's AI-driven highlight recommendations. - **Backend & Infrastructure** — API and backend engineering underlying client products. - **Emerging Technology** — IoT and connected-hardware integration, e.g. TOOR's SmartLockbox and Care.com's device integrations. ### Experience - **Product Discovery** — Early-stage product vision, validation, and requirements gathering. - **UX Design & Research** — User research and experience design. - **Visual/UI Design** — Interface and visual product design, e.g. the Tracy Anderson HeartStone app and Snack's interface. - **Design Systems** — Scalable, reusable design-system creation. ### Strategy - **Digital Transformation** — Modernizing legacy/manual processes into digital products, e.g. South Street Securities moving from phone-based to app-based trade requests. - **Product Validation** — Testing and validating product concepts before full development. - **AI Strategy** — Advisory identifying where AI can be applied within a client's existing product. - **Planning & Roadmapping** — Product planning and roadmap strategy. - **Technical Audits** — Technical and product audits of existing mobile/web products. ### Growth - **Ongoing Management** — Continued product management post-launch. - **Data & Experimentation** — Analytics instrumentation and experimentation programs. - **User Acquisition** — Growth marketing for new user acquisition. - **User Retention** — Retention-focused growth marketing. - **Staff Augmentation** — Embedded engineering talent working within a client's own team. Utility's Growth team is described as Product Managers, Data Scientists, and Growth Marketers who partner with clients on rapid releases, user feedback cycles, and data-driven experimentation after a product's initial launch. --- ## WORK — CASE STUDIES *34 case studies, grouped as presented on the site (Enterprise / Startup).* ### Enterprise clients **Airbnb — "Creating global connections"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research. Overview: Built the mobile and web platforms for Airbnb Open, Airbnb's annual hosting conference, welcoming 20,000+ hosts from 100+ countries for a week of social collaboration, learning, and a star-studded awards show. What was built: A one-stop mobile app for schedules, real-time event updates, speaker info, and ticket purchases, plus RFID-integrated social-engagement tools for attendees to discover each other, and a custom central command system giving Airbnb real-time control over 500+ sessions and 1,000+ speakers. Quote: Shannon Jones, Director, Special Events, praised Utility's agility and dedication compared with other agencies. **Forbes — "Digitizing a media brand"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research. Overview: Forbes wanted a robust video content offering reaching a global audience, plus a major investment in entrepreneurship content including a startup-focused initiative in Africa. What was built: A full video ecosystem across mobile (iOS/Android) and web/desktop/tablet browsers, including live video events, a daily video schedule, and video-on-demand content, fully accessible via paid monthly/annual subscriptions. Impact: 15M unique views; content reached 100+ countries. **Jenny Craig — "Seamless health management"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Design, Research. Overview: Jenny Craig's ~40-year-old weight-loss program (portioned food, personal coach, lifestyle tools) had a disjointed, paper-based user journey that missed opportunities to collect data for product-led growth. What was built: A mobile app for weigh-in tracking, activity logging/planning, an intuitive meal/menu builder with smart recommendations based on user preferences and nutrition goals, delivery scheduling, and fasting-session tracking. **Care.com — "Re-imagining the caretaker search"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research. Overview: As the industry leader in caregiver booking, Care.com wanted to better personalize the customer experience and increase responsiveness for both families and caregivers. What was built: Streamlined booking management, a family profile management tool (household info, medical/emergency contacts shared with caregivers), and day-of-care coordination features. Quote: Ryan Safarian, CTO, described the experience as a standout, citing Utility's leadership team as best-in-class. **Tracy Anderson — "Transforming a fitness pioneer"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: Utility partnered with fitness pioneer Tracy Anderson to manage her digital ecosystem and launch HeartStone, a new wellness initiative blending movement, mindfulness, and motivation. What was built: A sleek, user-centric mobile app for HeartStone with signature workouts, exclusive content, and community features; simplified navigation and menu structure on the main website; seamless in-app purchasing for premium video content. **GIA — "Digitizing diamond authentication"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, AI Solutions. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: GIA (Gemological Institute of America), the leading gemological research and grading organization, wanted a new digital hub for diamond reports and knowledge, plus a mobile app to meet demand for digital reports and an AI-based inscription-matching service. What was built: A mobile app for digital diamond grading reports, an AI-powered device connection to verify diamond authenticity via inscription matching, interactive 4Cs tools (clarity, carat, color, cut), and search/compare functionality across reports. Impact: App rating improved from 2.7 stars (old app) to 4.9 stars (new app). Quote: Mike Koyle, VP of Product, noted a ~3-year partnership as GIA moved into mobile and AI-integrated solutions. **South Street Securities — "Digitizing financial trading"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: South Street Securities, a leader in Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) trading, needed a modern, compliance-focused way to handle client trade requests beyond outdated phone calls. What was built: A client mobile app plus a trader web portal enabling real-time MBS trade requests, pricing, and status tracking; high-performance trading dashboards centralizing incoming trade requests, client communication, and approvals for traders. **Buzzfeed — "Personalized digital storytelling"** Platforms: Web Apps. Services: Development, Design. Overview: BuzzFeed invested in dynamic, "make your own adventure"-style content to attack the mobile/digital storytelling space. What was built: Mobile and web dynamic content environments built on the Eko interactive-video platform, including choose-your-own-path quizzes/stories and a co-branded partnership with Tasty for culinary content. Impact: 20 experiences created; 2 partnerships launched (including Tasty). **Bleacher Report — "Interactive and social trivia"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design. Overview: With a planned sponsorship from Jim Beam, Bleacher Report wanted a new sports trivia product playable anywhere, with anyone, as part of its "Fam Favorite" campaign. What was built: A full iOS, Android, and web trivia game ("Fam Favorite," presented by Jim Beam) with team formation, category selection, and head-to-head competition. Impact: 5-month build time; 5+ minutes average user time spent per session. **Coca-Cola — "Gamifying mobile through AR"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design. Overview: Coca-Cola wanted to further leverage the "sip and scan" feature on its bottles/cans to deliver immersive, mobile-only AR experiences. Utility was brought in by global agency AKQA to work on the project. What was built: "Cube Hopper," an AR mobile game activated by scanning a Coke bottle in the main Coca-Cola app, letting users play in mid-air with real surroundings mixed into the game and compete on a global leaderboard. **NYC Health + Hospitals — "Solving asthma monitoring"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research. Overview: NYC Health + Hospitals found many families were unnecessarily spending money on ER visits for pediatric asthma, largely due to poor health literacy and no way to track/monitor symptoms at home. What was built: The "Ask Me, AsthMe" app for children and families to track daily symptoms and triggers, view progress reports, access asthma education content, and get a personalized action plan built with medical professionals. Impact: 500 total users; 5 clinical studies conducted using the app. **Roundtable — "Content delivery for arts leader"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research. Overview: To coincide with the 92nd Street Y's 50th anniversary, the goal was to relaunch Roundtable.org, taking learnings from 92NY's existing audience preferences for events and online courses into a rebranded, scalable digital platform. What was built: An à la carte and subscription-based live-streaming and video course platform (web), discoverable by topic, educator, or search, plus an iOS/Android companion app for easier reach and course management tools for admins. **Samsung — "Gaming with a hip hop icon"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design. Overview: Samsung wanted to deepen its partnership with hip-hop artist Lil Wayne to engage millions of users as part of a new cross-media property tied to his interest in professional skate teams. What was built: A mobile game (iOS/Android) themed around Lil Wayne, featuring character customization, in-game currency/rewards, badges, and social sharing to bring in friends for bragging rights. Impact: 2M app downloads; 100M game plays. Quote: Lil Wayne (Partner, Duval St. Co.) noted the product was built quickly once the idea was conceived. **NBA — "Homebase for global tournament"** Platforms: Web Apps. Services: Development, Design. Overview: For the inaugural Jr. NBA World Championship (the NBA's version of the Little League World Series), the NBA needed a partner to produce all the digital tools and platforms for teams, users, and fans. What was built: A web hub with news, standings, regional bracket info (U.S. and international regionals, 16 teams each side), and core-values content, serving as the central digital destination for the new tournament property. Impact: 100 teams participated; 5M digital audience reached; hundreds of prospects and dozens of countries represented, with 5,000+ ticket fees processed. **Women Deliver — "Leading global women's health"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Development, Design. Overview: Utility was selected as digital agency of record for the Women Deliver 2019 Conference, handling all UX, mobile app development (iOS/Android), web platform, and dashboard development, and managing stakeholders to launch modern ideas at scale. What was built: A conference companion app and web platform covering schedule building, itinerary planning, speaker directories, exhibitor info, and real-time updates for a global gender-equality/health conference. Impact: 20K event participants; 1M+ digital engagements. Quote: Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister of Canada) is quoted on the case study page describing the conference's importance to gender equality. **SirenMD — "Telemedicine for athlete care"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: Leaders from the University of Miami's sports medicine group came together to fix broken patient-care processes in college and pro sports, in a context requiring HIPAA compliance and real-time medical attention both on and off the field. What was built: A HIPAA-compliant platform (mobile + web + tablet) for real-time patient/case management, secure file transmission (X-rays, images, video) between medical professionals, and real-time updates/alerts for trainers and doctors on the move. Impact: 100 partner programs; $5 Million capital raised. Quote: Dr. Lee Kaplan (CEO & Founder, Head of Miami Sports Medicine) described a long, positive ongoing working relationship with Utility. **Stride Gum — "Global event gamified"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design. Overview: For Stride Gum's global relaunch, the brand planned "Heaven Sent" — the most-watched live content of the year — in which Luke Aikins would become the first person to jump 25,000 feet from an airplane without a parachute, broadcast exclusively on FOX. What was built: A full iOS and Android mobile game designed from scratch, focused on high-impact engagement, sticky retention, and monetization strategies tied to the stunt event, with Facebook sharing and leaderboard competition. Impact: 10M engaged fans; 2M app engagements. ### Startups & growing ventures **pliability — "Leveling up mobility training"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: The leading daily mobility and stretching app wanted to reinvest in its suite of applications to adapt to modern environments and be positioned to scale to fast-growing demand. What was built: Redesigned and rebuilt iOS app, Android app, and web app; AI-based flexibility-scanning tools for real-time body measurement; tracking/analytics dashboard; pre-made and custom recommendation-engine "Paths" for stretching routines. Impact: 4.9 app store rating; 4 years working with the client. Quote: Scott Perkins (CEO & Founder) called Utility a fully integrated extension of the pliability team. **LOGE Camps — "Digitizing the guest experience"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: LOGE Camps, an adventure/outdoor-culture hospitality brand, wanted a cohesive digital ecosystem matching its brand ethos to make online and mobile interactions as inviting as staying in person. What was built: A mobile app with keyless entry and guided-trip content; a full website rebuild with a bold, visually immersive design and high-performance booking architecture. Impact: 20 new locations added; 4.9 app store rating. Quote: Cale Genenbacher (CEO & Founder) called Utility a long-term partner for the full digital-ecosystem relaunch. **MOVES — "Custom fitness built by experts"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Research, Design, Development, Growth. Overview: MOVES, a leading women's fitness platform, needed a scalable digital solution to support rapid growth, giving the company full ownership over its technology and foundation. What was built: Full mobile app rebuild delivering workout programs and instructional video content; full website rebuild with refreshed brand identity and messaging. Impact: 4.9 app rating; 180K "successful stories" milestone reached. Quote: Allie Sallberg (Chief Operating Officer) noted the confidence gained from having tech fully under control after coming from a SaaS platform. **Snack — "AI-driven sports highlights"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, AI Solutions. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: Snack set out to give sports fans short-form highlight content — game stats and clips — without the pressure of a traditional social feed. What was built: A mobile app with an AI recommendation engine for personalized highlight delivery, real-time scores, a "Midnight Snack" daily AI-curated recap feature, clip reactions, interactive polls, and community-driven content. Impact: $3M funding raised; 500K streams per month. Quote: Mark Manis (CEO & Founder) said the Utility team operated at a level he couldn't achieve on his own. **Carsy — "Frictionless car rentals"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research. Overview: Research showed people weren't satisfied with the car-rental experience; Carsy set out to put control back in the renter's hands while adding modern, luxury tech to the process. What was built: A mobile app for remote/keyless car access (lock/unlock, honk, locate via phone), easy pickup/dropoff flows without paperwork or hidden fees, and trip-sharing/cost-splitting with friends. Impact: 15K pre-signups; 3 rounds of investment raised. **Counslr — "Accessible college counseling"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: With remote access to mental-health support scarce, Counslr set out to build a HIPAA-compliant application letting students, faculty, and employees securely reach mental health professionals in real time. What was built: On-demand and scheduled chat/session booking with licensed counselors, a counselor portal for managing multiple simultaneous conversations, and HIPAA-compliant real-time communication infrastructure. Impact: 25 partner organizations secured licenses; 4.8-star app rating. Quote: Roy Feintuch (CEO & Founder) credited Utility's HIPAA-compliance expertise for giving Counslr confidence to build the platform. **Reconstruction — "World-class remote learning"** Platforms: Web Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research. Overview: Reconstruction, founded by a former chancellor of the D.C. school system and a Harvard professor, set out to create a digital ecosystem where Black students connect with Black educators in a culturally relevant way, supplementing traditional education that often lacks identity-affirming content. What was built: A web platform for browsing and enrolling in courses taught by hand-selected instructors, with personal itinerary management for parents scheduling multiple kids' course tracks, and flexible before/after-school and weekend time slots. Impact: 50K students served; 250 instructors onboarded; secured a major Series A funding round in its first year, alongside building a full in-house product team. Quote: Roland Fryer, CEO, praised Utility's precision in ensuring successful launches and ongoing platform growth over more than a year. **Football Genius — "Play-by-play game predictions"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: A group of sports data scientists and former NFL players wanted to bring play-by-play prediction to the mass market, using predictive analysis and data to let fans engage more deeply with games (and win money). What was built: A mobile app for real-time play/game predictions with cash payouts, a predictive probability engine, and social/fantasy-style competitive play. Impact: $5M capital raised; 50-minute average session length; a 4-month build cycle. Quote: Casey Huke (CEO & Founder) noted the speed and complexity Utility handled building the product. **Fivestar Training — "Star athlete workouts for all"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design. Overview: One of the world's most renowned training organizations wanted to bring pro-grade training to parents, families, and kids of all skill levels, featuring pro athletes like Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) and Alex Morgan (U.S. National Team). What was built: An iOS mobile app delivering video-based training programs, side-by-side comparison tools against pro athletes, and progress-tracking stats for drills and workouts. Impact: 20 training programs; 4 hours of content runtime. Quote: Alex Morgan (Captain, U.S. National Team) spoke about growing love for the game through the training program. **TOOR — "Decentralized house hunting"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: TOOR set out to solve inefficiencies in house hunting and rental/sale management with a connected, tech-forward approach; the company appeared on Shark Tank and secured investment including from Barbara Corcoran. What was built: A mobile app for searching listed properties, managing connected SmartLockboxes remotely (iOS and Android) for self-guided showings, and hassle-free scheduling/booking/chat directly between owners, renters, or Airbnb hosts. Impact: 100,000+ properties listed; pre-sold thousands of units online before mass production began. Quote: Junior Destinvil (CEO & Founder) praised Utility for building products correctly and thoroughly from the start, helping TOOR gain capital and customers quickly. **TapStats — "AI-powered sports data"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, AI Solutions. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: TapStats set out to be the first crowd-sourced platform for sports statistics, letting users play an active role in data and intelligence gathering. What was built: Utility designed and built the entire infrastructure, AI engine, and mobile apps, including a live schedules/stats engine and a second-screen companion experience for watching events (e.g. UFC fights) with real-time tap-based stat tracking. **Kismet — "Unbiased dating & matchmaking"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research. Overview: Kismet ("destiny or fate") was the brainchild of a funded startup venture aiming to solve the matchmaking problem in modern dating, where most apps miss the mark by relying on visual-based decision-making. What was built: A mobile app using a custom-built, proprietary matching algorithm based on daily lifestyle-question answers rather than photos alone, with real-time chat once matched. Impact: 500K users; thousands of matches made. **Areena — "Hyper-local corporate philanthropy"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research. Overview: Areena was founded by executives from major law firms to solve personal and corporate philanthropy in a hyper-local, real-time, interest-based way, addressing the "under-giving" problem tied to how much time people spend on their phones. What was built: A mobile app for discovering nearby volunteering/charity opportunities filtered by personal causes/interests, organization discovery and following, and personalized notifications for relevant nearby events. Impact: 2 rounds of funding raised; 500+ charity opportunities listed on the platform. **Kickwheel — "Connecting college applicants"** Platforms: Mobile Apps, Web Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: Backed by top education-tech VCs, Kickwheel aimed to help colleges solve declining conversion rates on accepted students by welcoming and connecting them socially in a modern, digital format continuing through enrollment. What was built: A mobile/web social network with a custom directory of prospective students, current students, and staff; real-time Q&A chat with current students; group chat/channels; and a "My Schools" dashboard for tracking multiple target schools. Impact: 30+ investors backing the company; 25 schools onboarded to the platform. **Dearduck — "Micro-gifting and personalization"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: Dearduck set out to change the art of gifting, addressing gaps in the gift-giving industry where recipients are often ignored and gift-givers struggle to know what loved ones actually want. What was built: A mobile app with daily personalized gift feeds and event/birthday reminders, preference-based quizzes feeding a recommendation engine, and digital gift cards for spontaneous, instant gifting. Impact: Launched and evolving for 3 years; 2 rounds of capital raised; 150,000+ gift ideas available on the platform. Quote: Kelly Avozan (CEO & Founder, Dearduck) praised Utility's code quality as among the best they've worked with, citing consistent team continuity and smooth management. **AVP — "Gamification for pro sports league"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research, Growth. Overview: The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP), which produces the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, wanted to invest in mobile gaming to get fans more active in the mobile space as the sport grew. What was built: "AVP Beach Volley COPA," a mobile game featuring Olympic athlete April Ross, with tour-style progression across real venues (Manhattan Beach, Chicago, New York City, Copacabana), character customization, and coin/monetization mechanics. Impact: 500K downloads; 50K monthly sessions. **StringFlix — "Collaborative memory making"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design. Overview: StringFlix, the brainchild of a veteran NBC video producer, wanted to unite people through video without requiring hours of file collection, weeks of editing, or spending money to create meaningful shared memories. What was built: A social video app for building collaborative "Strings" — shared photo/video collections from group events like trips or parties — with public/private sharing, community following, and appreciation ("clapping") features. Impact: 50K video moments recorded; 250K hours of moments captured; launch received accolades from media and users. **TableMe — "Night club table sharing"** Platforms: Mobile Apps. Services: Development, Design, Research. Overview: TableMe's founders wanted to solve the problem of finding and reserving a table at a bar or club while going out, letting users split cost with friends and reserve more flexibly and socially than the traditional process. What was built: A mobile app for browsing and reserving club/bar tables in real time, finding and syncing with table-sharing partners nearby, chatting to plan or change plans, and setting up customized parties/groups. Impact: Launched in Miami, New York, and one additional city; 25,000 tables booked across 3 cities. --- ## FAQ **What does Utility do?** Utility is a digital product agency that designs, builds, and grows custom mobile apps, web platforms, and AI-driven products for clients ranging from Fortune 500 brands to funded startups. **Who are Utility's clients?** Enterprise clients include Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Forbes, the NBA, GIA, Buzzfeed, Bleacher Report, Care.com, Jenny Craig, Women Deliver, and South Street Securities. Startup/venture clients include pliability, Counslr, Snack, TOOR, Kismet, LOGE Camps, MOVES, Reconstruction, Football Genius, Fivestar Training, TapStats, Areena, Kickwheel, Dearduck, AVP, StringFlix, Carsy, and TableMe, among others. **How long has Utility been in business?** Founded in 2013 — 12+ years as of 2025, with 150+ completed projects. **Where is Utility located?** New York (135 Madison Ave, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10016) and Los Angeles (10000 Washington Blvd, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90232), with additional distributed team members. **How big is the team?** 100+ employees, led by CEO Dave Cohen and Partner Chris Cuddy, with directors spanning engineering, product, design, and growth marketing. **How do I start a project with Utility?** Submit an inquiry at https://utility.agency/contact or email projects@utility.agency. **What industries has Utility worked in?** Travel, media/publishing, fintech, health/telemedicine, sports/sports tech, education, dating, real estate, hospitality, and nonprofit/philanthropy, based on its documented case studies. **Does Utility do AI development?** Yes — AI & Innovation and AI Strategy are dedicated service lines. Documented AI work includes GIA's inscription-matching verification tool, TapStats' AI-powered stats engine, and Snack's AI-driven highlight recommendation system. **What isn't publicly documented?** Utility's pricing/engagement model, specific technology stacks used per project, and formal average project timelines are not published on the site. Contact the team directly for those specifics.