childcare marketplace kin side raising 12 million in a series
a round led entirely by venture capitalists who are also
mothers kin sides platform helps parents discover book and pay
for childcare and his finding affordable child care continues to
be a challenge for parents. Kids side aims to
be a solution by partnering with centers offering in at
booking preferred rates. So joining us now is the
founder and ceo of Inside Shadia Sangala, thank you
so much for coming on the show. How exactly
is your company making childcare easier and more affordable for
parents? So thank you for having us on the
show. I'm uh, you know, we observed
something really interesting and that the employer based system controls
so much and has so much purchasing power in the
US. So we got to thinking what if we
could actually leverage that purchasing power of the employer based
system to help to regulate and control Not only rates
but quality for childcare for uh, the employees that
work for these employers. So what we've done in
the last four years is that we've been able to
partner with over 3000 employers, which have given us
the leverage to go to about 10,000 childcare providers and
counting and I mean daycares and preschool centers across the
us. It's actually helped to normalize rates, negotiate
spots as well as preferred tuition for the employees that
work on those 3000 employers. Well, certainly the
convenience, the affordability Shadia is so important to moms
and parents alike out there right now. So just
to be clear, this is getting a child a
place at an already founded and operated center. Right
. This isn't necessarily in home care, uh,
precisely with a little nuance. So soak inside does
partner with home based as well as sort of center
based child care providers. And so as long as
you are licensed and you work with a group of
kids, we work with you and you're exactly right
. We are not owning and operating the centers.
We are in fact, what makes us sort of
a secret weapon or very, very flexible is the
fact that we've been able to create a decentralized network
of the best childcare providers across the nation without us
actually having to run and operate them. And in
terms of your footprint, how many centers do you
cover across the country right now? I mean we're
in over 10,000 centers and we are nationwide Absolute.
Um,$12 million dollars in a series a round
led by mothers. We like to see it.
How are you gonna use that money to expand?
I mean, our goal is to get to over
10,000 employers and one million parents in the next 24
months. That's an incredible growth trajectory. I know
for mothers like, you know, this is,
this is probably a top concern right now and it's
kept a lot of women actually on the sidelines.
What are some of the stories that you've heard from
mothers and parents too that this not only is a
more affordable option, a better option to get their
kids in a community center to learn and be social
with other kids, but also to get some of
these parents who have been sidelined him in this pandemic
back to the office able to work again. Yeah
. I mean look I think it's no coincidence that
this round was led almost exclusively by mothers and a
couple of deaths. Um And that's because women primarily
in this pandemic, mothers have had this lived experience
of having this precarious childcare system just fall down in
front of our very eyes. And so what the
inside has tapped into is this is this sentiment and
trend where employers um No that they can no longer
look at childcare as a private employee issue. They
understand it today currently as a business issue, they
know that they cannot be in a position ever again
where you know, God forbid another pandemic or this
pandemic resurfaces. Um Or even just status quo.
They cannot afford to have their employees not be fully
productive and fully plugged in because of something that is
so essential which is child care. What do you
think needs to happen in D. C. Of
course there's been a lot of push for paid family
leave also for support of childcare policies so that parents
can get the affordable care that they need and yes
return to work. What do you want to see
come out of our nation's capital? I mean I
am very, very crystal clear on this one paid
family leave has to be an essential right for all
caretakers, not just of kids and babies but also
of of other loved ones. And secondly child care
has to be funded by the government and I'm talking
0-5 years old. This currently parents are paying completely
out of pocket for childcare in the 0 to 5
year old age range. And it's I think an
economic imperative for us to value childcare is a social
good so that our economy can actually be stronger for
it. Alright. Sharia Sangala, founder and Ceo
of QIN side, thank you so much for coming
on and congratulations.