Parents—particularly working mothers—hand over careers or put them on maintain to accommodate their youngsters’s every day transportation wants, says Rebecca Lock (above). The idea for the tech-enabled children’ rideshare was born after the entrepreneur turned down a job supply—”effectively ending” the profession she beloved. “A serious sacrifice had to be made,” she says. [Photo: Kidcaboo]
Getting children to and from faculty, after-school actions, and sports activities isn’t simple to navigate—particularly for working mother and father. Rebecca Lock, founder and CEO of Kidcaboo, constructed her “famtech” firm after dealing with this problem head-on.
Kidcaboo is a tech-enabled youngsters’s rideshare service—suppose Uber or Lyft, however for children—that soft-launched in Dallas, Houston, and Austin final month from its base in New Jersey. Parents can schedule rides through the Kidcaboo Parent app.
![](https://s24806.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Kidcaboo_02IMG_3635.jpg)
[Photo via Kidcaboo]
“School buses and after-school programs are unsustainable band-aid solutions,” Lock stated in a press release. “Kidcaboo’s mission is to create a sustainable, evolvable ecosystem that allows family life to work, gives parents the freedom to perform and focus fully while at work, and allows children to thrive with assistance that doesn’t tie a parent to their home.”
From actuality TV to entrepreneur
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Rebecca Lock
Lock’s background was producing actuality TV for retailers together with NBC, FX, A&E, and Hulu. During a three-year break from the workforce, Lock realized there was a difficulty in transporting children whereas fulfilling a schedule and assembly duties. After evaluating notes with associates, Lock came upon she wasn’t alone in dealing with this problem.
Compromises included children unable to attend enriching after-school actions and oldsters—usually mothers—placing on maintain and even giving up careers to accommodate their youngsters’s every day transportation wants, in response to the corporate.
“A serious sacrifice had to be made. I turned down the job offer and, in doing so, recognized that I was effectively ending the career I loved,” Lock stated about her try and return to producing actuality TV.
Building a tech startup
Instead of getting again into TV producing, Lock spent three years constructing Kidcaboo and its proprietary tech. New to the startup world, the founder got down to study the area round know-how, children’ transportation, and constructing a enterprise from the bottom up together with creating monetary fashions, understanding employment legislation, and writing firm insurance policies.
Early on she introduced in Rick Gilman, Kidcaboo’s CIO, and Ali Ispahany, an interim CTO, to construct the startup’s two apps. She tapped a household good friend to navigate the tough insurance coverage points round Kidcaboo’s rideshare idea, and in 2019 entered and gained an entrepreneur contest. That win led to enterprise teaching, web site growth, and authorized recommendation.
With the items of her firm in place, Lock was capable of safe a six-figure “friends and family” funding from a guardian with a toddler in the beta check of the app and in late 2021 secured a second seed funding, the corporate stated.
Getting children from level ‘A’ to level ‘B’
![](https://s24806.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Kidcaboo_01IMG_2416.jpg)
[Photo via Kidcaboo]
The coronary heart of Kidcaboo is establishing groups of vetted “Driving Nannies.” Drivers get felony background checks and use their very own inspected autos with different necessities together with no less than three years of childcare expertise and a clear driving document, the corporate stated in a press release. Kidcaboo conducts in-person interviews for drivers and the autos have dual-facing cameras, so the agency can monitor and monitor its drivers, in response to the assertion.
The digital camera tech options synthetic intelligence and software program that tracks driver efficiency on metrics like distracted driving, erratic habits, and even merely touching a cell system whereas driving, the corporate famous.
Prospective drivers can apply through a separate Driving Nanny app.
“The concept of ‘famtech’ is a huge part of Kidcaboo’s DNA,” Lock stated in the assertion. “There’s so much potential for leveling the playing field for working parents, whose circumstances have hindered their professional growth. We have a strong sense of our clients and what they need to help their families thrive, and it’s exciting to be using technology to directly help them.”
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