Friday Fundings: NeighborSchools Bags $5 Million

Micro Daycare Coming to a Neighborhood Near You

NeighborSchools, founded in 2018, has a mission to help caretakers open “micro daycares” in their homes, thereby expanding parents’ access to high-quality and affordable childcare. The company has designed a “daycare-in-a-box” model, which is intended to bring down barriers to entry by handling the compliance, marketing, and back-office functions.

The company is looking to address both the shortage of affordable childcare and a hostile regulatory environment that limit opportunities for many would-be caregivers. It estimates over 100,000 Americans want to start a daycare business, citing a New York Times report that approximately 1.3 million moms can’t work because of the inability to secure childcare.

Accomplice Leads Round

The Boston, Massachusetts-based NeighborSchools just raised $5 million in a round led by Accomplice, with additional support from Chelsea Clinton’s Metrodora Ventures, HannahGrey, and 186 Ventures. The tech startup has raised $9 million to date.

So far, the company has facilitated the launch of more than 70 home-based daycares in 10 markets. An estimated 30,000 parents have been served by their operation. The tech-supported model allows a daycare provider to earn up to 200% more, while parents can save about 40% relative to traditional alternatives.

Affordable Daycare and Better Wages

NeighborSchools executives say the funding will help the company build out its proprietary technology and support the process of matching parents to providers. NeighborSchools surveys parents and runs an assessment based on 23 different criteria.

CEO Brian Swartz believes NeighborSchools will expand parental access to affordable childcare while offering better wages for childcare workers. The goal is to extend this offer to 10 additional markets in 2022.

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