Bootstrapping sensation BigOven today is announcing that it has recorded more than eight million downloads of its recipe finder app across iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, Nook and Kindle Fire. Not bad for a company that’s been bootstrapped from its earliest days by entrepreneur Steve Murch.
In addition to announcing the new app milestone, BigOven also is making its Grocery List and Menu Planner services free. Those services had previously been part of the company’s $20 annual premium subscription plan.
“We have found them to be very popular with cooks and advertisers alike, and are now opening them up to all customers,” said Murch of the decision to make them free.
“By making these features free, it allows us to reach a much wider base of home cooks with great services that span the cooking lifecycle from recipe discovery through planning and shopping,” he said.
In addition, the company said that it is now rolling out Facebook integration, allowing cooks to view the recipes added and favorited by Facebook friends.
BigOven, which boasts more than 400,000 recipes and 1.8 million registered users, will continue to offer its premium service.
That includes an ad-free experience, access to private notes on recipes and 25 credits for the company’s RecipeScan service, an automated tool that turns handwritten recipes into digital copies.
Steve Murch’s talk from GeekWire’s Startup Day: Bootstrapping a startup: Less cash, more cowbell
