Care.com

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Care.com, Inc.
Care.com Logo.svg
Type of businessSubsidiary
Headquarters
Austin, Texas[1]
,
United States
Area servedUnited States, Canada, United Kingdom, Western Europe
Founder(s)Sheila Lirio Marcelo
Key peopleTim Allen (CEO)
Industry
Services
  • Child care
  • Senior care
  • Tutoring
  • Housekeeping
  • Pet care
Employees515[2]
ParentIAC
URLwww.care.com
LaunchedMay 2007; 14 years ago (2007-05)[3]

Care.com is an online marketplace for childcare, senior care, special needs care, tutoring, pet care, and housekeeping through membership in a two-sided marketplace. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has additional offices in Berlin, Germany.[4]

The site has 32.9 million members across 20 countries.[5][6] Care.com is also offered as an employee benefit by 150 companies and organizations,[7] such as Google and Facebook.[8]

The company raised $111 million in venture funding[9] before going public on January 24, 2014.[10] In February 2020, Care.com was acquired by IAC and is no longer publicly traded.[11][12]

History[edit]

Sheila Lirio Marcelo, who helped start the college savings site Upromise and was vice-president and general manager of TheLadders.com, came up with the idea for Care.com when she had trouble finding someone to help care for her first child.[13] Then her father had a heart attack while he was caring for her second child, and she had difficulty finding care for him in addition to child care.[14]

Between October 2006 and the end of 2012, Care.com received $111 million in funding from investors including Matrix Partners,[15][16] Trinity Ventures,[17][18] New Enterprise Associates,[19] USAA,[20] and Institutional Venture Partners (IVP).[21] Immediately prior to founding Care.com Marcelo was an Entrepreneur in residence at Matrix Partners, where she met with the founders of Sittercity.com and another website for finding caregivers, to discuss a potential investment and bringing Marcelo in as CEO.[22] Matrix Partners did not invest in either firm and, months later, Marcelo founded Care.com and received $3.5 million in Series A funding from Matrix Partners, with Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn also participating in that round.[15] The Boston Globe reported on several allegations that Marcelo had met with other companies in order to use the information for starting Care.com.[22] A spokesperson for Matrix responded denied any claims of "unfair treatment".[23]

When Care.com launched in 2007, it helped customers find babysitters, tutors, pet care and senior care.[24] The site also offers other services, such as housekeeping[25] and care for special needs children and adults.[26] Users can search, post jobs and look at some caregiver profiles for free as basic members or enroll as premium members and pay a monthly, quarterly, or yearly subscription fee for full access to the platform and all caregivers.[2] The site also helps people find job opportunities in their area by posting a profile and applying to openings for a monthly fee.[27][28] The company offers a babysitting rate calculator that helps parents calculate what to pay their sitter.[29]

It expanded its online marketplace into the United Kingdom in April 2012,[30] followed after by Canada.[31] The company debuted Karoo, a private mobile social network that connects families and caregivers, which was later shut down, in September 2012.[32] In December 2012, Care.com launched Care.com Recruiting Solutions to help care-related businesses hire caregivers and fill staff openings through the site.[33] In June 2013, Care.com and Knowledge Universe, a company that runs child care centers throughout the country, announced a partnership, where Care.com corporate clients will have access to KU's facilities for backup care.[34]

In November 2013, Care.com filed for an initial public offering with Morgan Stanley, BofA, Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan as the joint book-running managers, and Allen & Company LLC and Stifel as senior co-managers.[2] In December 2013 details of the IPO were first revealed,[6] with January 2014 reports saying that the company planned to raise $85.6 million[2] by offering 5.35 million shares, at $14 to $16 each,[35] on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CRCM". On January 23, 2014, 5.35 million shares were priced at $17.[36] Care.com went public on January 24, 2014, with shares climbing to $22.55, up about 30 percent from its initial pricing.[37] It was the first Boston venture-funded technology company to go public in almost two years.[2]

In 2015, The Boston Globe reported a couple defrauded by a nanny who had cleared the site's background check process as well as other instances where families in the United States were suing the company for alleged negligence in properly conducting background checks, including two where the sitter hired was facing criminal charges over the death of the child they were hired to watch.[38] In March 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that the site listed day care providers as licensed in their state when they were not, and that in one of the providers two children had drowned and at another, children had been physically and sexually abused.[39][40] Care.com responded by removing unverified daycare listings from the site that had been generated automatically but never claimed by the facility owner and strengthened vetting procedures for members.[41][42][40]

In December 2019, IAC announced it was buying Care.com for $15 per share, a 13.2% premium over Care.com's most recent closing price of $13.25, in a deal valued at almost $500 million. As part of the deal, IAC executive Tim Allen became CEO of Care.com[43] when the acquisition was completed in February 2020, at which point Care.com ceased trading on the NYSE.[44]

Acquisitions[edit]

Company Year
Breedlove & Associates[45][46] 2012
Besser Betreut GmbH.[47] 2012
Parents in a Pinch[48] 2012
Citrus Lane[49] [50] 2014
Town + Country Resources[51] 2018
Galore[52] 2018
Trusted[52] 2018
LifeCare[53] 2020

Awards[edit]

In 2013, the Care.com app Karoo received a Webby Award under the social (handheld devices) category.[54] The app was later withdrawn. [55]

References[edit]

  1. ^ https://www.linkedin.com/company/care-com/about/
  2. ^ a b c d e Kyle Alspach, "Care.com sets IPO share range at $14-$16; could raise up to $86M," Boston Business Journal, January 10, 2014.
  3. ^ Om Malik, "Reid Hoffman invests in Care.com," Gigaom, July 30, 2007.
  4. ^ "Check out Care.com on Inc.com!". Inc.com. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  5. ^ Care.com, "Company Overview," Care.com, February 4, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Rebecca Grant, “Care.com raising $80M IPO to capture early (and massive) care market,” Venture Beat, December 12, 2013.
  7. ^ Michael B. Farrell, "Care.com, a site for caregivers, aims at Wall Street," The Boston Globe, November 26, 2013.
  8. ^ Serena Saitto & Lee Spears, “Care.com Said to Pick Morgan Stanley as Lead Bank for IPO”, Bloomberg.com, August 7, 2013.
  9. ^ Brian Womack, "Care.com Raises $50 Million in Fifth Round of VC Funding Archived January 5, 2014, at the Wayback Machine," Bloomberg Businessweek, August 7, 2012.
  10. ^ Jordan Graham, "Experts: Care.com IPO shows Boston’s Web savvy," Boston Herald, January 24, 2014.
  11. ^ SEC. "Care.com Inc 2020 Notice of termination of registration of a class of securities under Section 12(b) 15-12B". SEC.report. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  12. ^ Dumcius, Gintautas (December 20, 2019). "Care.com acquired for $500M, new CEO appointed". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  13. ^ Beth Pitts, "Sheila Marcelo, Founder & CEO, Care.com, on Raising $111m Archived 2013-12-13 at the Wayback Machine," The NextWomen magazines, February 5, 2013.
  14. ^ Susan Chaityn Lebovits, "Tapping Web of caregivers," Boston Globe, December 9, 2007.
  15. ^ a b Om Malik, “Reid Hoffman invests in Care.com,” GigaOm, July 30, 2007.
  16. ^ Matt Marshall, "Caring.com, a site for caregivers, to launch this week," VentureBeat, September 20, 2007.
  17. ^ James M. Connolly, "Care.com raises $25 million with insurer USAA as corporate VC," Boston Business Journal, October 12, 2011.
  18. ^ "Care.com, Inc. Obtains $9,999,900 New Financing Round," Xconomy.com.
  19. ^ Leena Rao, "Care.com Raises $20 Million To Connect You To Nannies, Babysitters And Caregivers," TechCrunch, October 12, 2010.
  20. ^ James M. Connolly, “Care.com raises $25 million with insurer USAA as corporate VC,” Boston Business Journal, October 12, 2011.
  21. ^ Brian Womack, “Care.com Raises $50 Million in Fifth Round of VC Funding Archived January 5, 2014, at the Wayback Machine,” Bloomberg Businessweek, August 7, 2012.
  22. ^ a b Kirsner, Scott (22 November 2009). "Websites' rivalry provides lesson about sharing strategy". Boston.com. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  23. ^ Scott Kirsner, "The Backstory: On Care.com, Sittercity, Entrepreneurs, and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence," Boston.com, November 23, 2009.
  24. ^ Dan Kaplan, "Care.com, one-stop shop for child, pet, and elderly care," VentureBeat, August 1, 2007.
  25. ^ Cindy Atoji Keene, "Online solutions for real life hassles," Boston Globe, May 19, 2013.
  26. ^ Kyle Alspach, "Care.com files confidentially for IPO next year (report)," Boston Business Journal, November 25, 2013.
  27. ^ Daryl Nelson, "Care.com: Is it the Craiglist of the future?" ConsumerAffairs, January 21, 2013.
  28. ^ "How Much Does Care.com Cost: Membership, Background Check, Pay". Gigworker.com. 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  29. ^ April Rueb, “Paying Your Babysitter Archived November 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine,” Parents Magazine blog, April 17, 2011.
  30. ^ Olivia Solon, “Carer marketplace Care.com launches in UK Archived December 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine”, Wired UK, April 19, 2012.
  31. ^ Jamillah Knowles, "Online care-giving firm Care.com scores $50m round to fuel international expansion," The Next Web, August 7, 2012.
  32. ^ Sarah Perez, “Care.com Debuts Karoo, A Private Mobile Social Network For Families & Caregivers,” TechCrunch, September 18, 2012.
  33. ^ Andrew Karpie, “Care.com’s New Online Recruiting Platform. Why Should We Care? Archived December 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine,” Staffing Industry, February 8, 2013.
  34. ^ Robert Goldfield, "Child care for working parents just got a little easier," Portland Business Journal, June 3, 2013.
  35. ^ Ben Fox Rubin, "Care.com Sets IPO Range at $14 to $16 a Share," Wall Street Journal, January 10, 2014.
  36. ^ Kyle Alspach, "Care.com prices IPO above forecast, ends Boston's VC-backed tech IPO drought," Boston Business Journal, January 23, 2014.
  37. ^ Russ Britt, "Care.com shares surge by a third on care finder’s first day of trading," MarketWatch, January 24, 2014.
  38. ^ Murphy, Shelley (December 29, 2015). "Background check failed to find nanny's record". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  39. ^ Grind, Kirsten; Zuckerman, Gregory; Shiflett, Shane (March 8, 2019). "Care.com Puts Onus on Families to Check Caregivers' Backgrounds—With Sometimes Tragic Outcomes". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  40. ^ a b Liptak, Andrew (2019-03-31). "Care.com deleted 'tens of thousands' of providers after report found lax vetting procedures". The Verge. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  41. ^ Grind, Kirsten (2019-03-11). "Care.com Overhauls Vetting of Sitters, Listings". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  42. ^ Grind, Shane Shifflett and Kirsten (2019-03-31). "Care.com Removes Tens of Thousands of Unverified Listings". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  43. ^ Elly Cosgrove, "Care.com shares surge after Barry Diller’s IAC agrees to buy online caregiver marketplace," CNBC, December 20, 2019.
  44. ^ "Stock Market Insights | Seeking Alpha". SeekingAlpha. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  45. ^ Chris Reidy, “Care.com acquires Breedlove & Associates,” Boston Globe, August 21, 2012.
  46. ^ Kyle Alspach, “Care.com acquires payroll biz,” Mass High Tech, August 21, 2012.
  47. ^ Brian Womack, “Care.com Acquires Besser Betreut as Website Expands Internationally,” Bloomberg.com, July 11, 2012.
  48. ^ Chris Reidy, “Care.com buys Parents in a Pinch,” Boston Globe, January 15, 2013.
  49. ^ "Care.com acquires Citrus Lane", Care.com, July 17, 2014.
  50. ^ "Care.com shutting down e-commerce firm it previously acquired", bizjournals.com, October 29, 2015.
  51. ^ "Care.com Acquires Town + Country, Galore and Trusted". July 30, 2018 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  52. ^ a b "Acquisitions by Care.com".
  53. ^ "IAC Traded Love for Luck With Care.com". October 20, 2020 – via www.wsj.com.
  54. ^ The 17th Annual Webby Awards Archived 2013-12-17 at the Wayback Machine. The Webby Awards Homepage.
  55. ^ "Karoo home page," Care.com web site
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