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Care.com Just Landed $50 Million To Better Help You Find Mary Poppins, Mr. Clean And The Dog Whisperer

I come from a family of caregivers—my mom is a Gerontologist and my grandmother was an RN—so growing up I was always around others needing and appreciating the care and expertise that my mom and grandmother could provide. But connecting the right care with the right people is an extremely important, and often times, arduous task.

 

With a little help from another $50 million in a new round of funding, Care.com hopes to alleviate the difficulty by providing a platform for care-seeking families and caregivers to discover, connect and deliver the best care for your children, your elderly family members, and your home. Even your dog.

 

 

 

Let’s find out where it all started.

 

The Nanny Dilemma

 

In 2006, Sheila Lirio Marcelo had a crisis. She needed to find reliable care for her family, but instead experienced a painful and difficult process that left her frustrated, but determined. She finally found the perfect nanny, and found inspiration for a business.

 

 

Taking her previous experience and background from companies like Upromise and TheLadders.com, as well as her belief in the social value of technology and the passion for family, she founded Boston-based Care.com.

 

The International Care Resource

The site has since gone global and Shelia has swept some serious accolades for it, including:

 

  • Stevie Award for “Best New Company of the Year” in 2007.
  • Top 10 emerging entrepreneur at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in 2009.
  • “40 under 40” executives in Boston Business Journal.
  • Enrst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010 for New England.
  • Awarded Marshall Memorial Fellowship and named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011.

 

Sheila is making waves for women entrepreneurs around the world… to say the least. And, the company is quickly turning into an international platform.

Care.com has 7 million users in more than 15 countries. In April, the site launched their UK branch as well as acquiring Europe’s largest care database Besser Betreut, kicking off its global expansion.

The cool $50 million they just landed from a new round of funding led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), is being added to the site’s $61 million funding honey pot, bringing the grand total to a sweet $111 million. I can imagine this will help with the company’s world care resource takeover.

 

 

Another story that makes me kick myself for not thinking that, in my many years of trying to connect my childcare experience with nanny-seeking families, I should have gone all tech and business and built a solution (and made a little more than my $10/h babysitting rate while I was at it). Savvy entrepreneurs win again!

 

Photo Credits

Betreut.de / Care.com

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