We started with a note that never got read.

The problem was always a note under the wiper

In 2017, our founder watched a car get ticketed on street cleaning day. He wanted to warn the owner. He had no pen, no paper, and no way to reach them.

That's the whole problem, really. The fastest way to contact a stranger about their car was a handwritten note under the wiper — hoping it doesn't rain, hoping it doesn't blow away, hoping they come back before the tow truck does.

In the United States, you can request owner information from the Department of Motor Vehicle. It costs money and takes five to seven business days. That's a perfectly reasonable process for a privacy-conscious government agency. It's a useless one when someone's car is about to be towed.

So we built the thing that should have existed already.

What Ottomon actually is

You put a small sticker — an ottotag — on something you own. It carries a unique QR code. Anyone who scans it can send you a message in seconds. They never see your name, your phone number, or your address. You never see theirs.

You get notified. You decide whether to respond.

That's it. That's the product.

Privacy and reachability aren't opposites

For most of history, being contactable meant being exposed. Write your phone number on your luggage and anyone who picks it up can call you — but they can also keep that number forever. There's no taking it back. Deleting information is hard, and it gets harder every year.

We don't think you should have to choose between "reachable" and "private."

So the ottotag carries nothing personal. The scan page shows only what you choose to show. Messages pass through our system without either side surrendering an identity. If a conversation needs to go further, that's a decision two people make together — not a default we impose on you.

We designed Ottomon so you can be contacted without being exposed.

The network is the product

A single ottotag on a single car is useful. A million of them is something else entirely.

When someone loses a suitcase, the first person to help is usually a stranger who happened to be standing there. Ottomon just gives that stranger a way to reach you. The more people who carry a tag, the more of those moments end well.

That's why printable tags are free, and always will be. Ottomon doesn't run on ether — pun intended. We cover our costs by selling high-quality physical tags to people who want something that survives a windshield in August. That's the whole business model.

The service works because you are part of it.

Where we are now

Ottomon is in active development. Early access is opening in stages, starting with vehicle tags.

If you want in early, join the waitlist on the home page — we'll email you the moment tags go live in your region.