Care.com is an online marketplace for families to find childcare, senior care, care for those with special needs, care for home, tutoring support and pet care. It is also a two-sided marketplace allowing caregivers to find jobs. Through its enterprise arm, Care for Business, the company provides employers with caregiving benefits for their employees. Enterprise clients include Google, Facebook, Starbucks and BestBuy.Serena Saitto & Lee Spears, “Care.com Said to Pick Morgan Stanley as Lead Bank for IPO ”, Bloomberg.com, August 7, 2013.
The company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with offices in New York, Shelton, and Berlin. The company raised $111 million in venture fundingBrian Womack, "Care.com Raises $50 Million in Fifth Round of VC Funding ," Bloomberg Businessweek, August 7, 2012. before going public on January 24, 2014.Jordan Graham, "Experts: Care.com IPO shows Boston's Web savvy ," Boston Herald, January 24, 2014. Care.com was bought by IAC in February 2020 and is no longer publicly traded.
As of June 2023, Brad E. Wilson is the CEO of the company.
History Care.com was started by Sheila Lirio Marcelo, who came up with the idea when she had trouble finding care for her children and aging parents.Beth Pitts, "Sheila Marcelo, Founder & CEO, Care.com, on Raising $111m ," The NextWomen magazines, February 5, 2013.Susan Chaityn Lebovits, "Tapping Web of caregivers ," Boston Globe, December 9, 2007. The platform helps match families to caregivers, including nannies, sitters, senior care providers, pet care providers, tutors and housekeepers.Dan Kaplan, "Care.com, one-stop shop for child, pet, and elderly care ," VentureBeat, August 1, 2007.Cindy Atoji Keene, "Online solutions for real life hassles ," Boston Globe, May 19, 2013.Kyle Alspach, "Care.com files confidentially for IPO next year (report) ," Boston Business Journal, November 25, 2013. The company provides two kinds of membership, basic and premium and also allows families to book caregivers on demand.Daryl Nelson, "Care.com: Is it the Craiglist of the future? " ConsumerAffairs, January 21, 2013.April Rueb, “Paying Your Babysitter ,” Parents Magazine blog, April 17, 2011.
In 2007, Care.com raised $3.5 million in a Series A funding round from Matrix Partners with participation from Reid Hoffman. Media reported allegations that Marcelo had met other companies in order to use their information to start Care.com, but a spokesperson for Matrix denied any claims of unfair treatment.Scott Kirsner, "The Backstory: On Care.com, Sittercity, Entrepreneurs, and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence ," Boston.com, November 23, 2009.
In 2012, Care.com launched in the United Kingdom and Canada, and acquired Berlin-based Betreut.de, giving it a footprint in more than a dozen Western European countries.Olivia Solon, “Carer marketplace Care.com launches in UK ”, Wired UK, April 19, 2012.Jamillah Knowles, "Online care-giving firm Care.com scores $50m round to fuel international expansion ," The Next Web, August 7, 2012. In 2013, the Care.com app Karoo received a Webby Award under the social (handheld devices) category.The 17th Annual Webby Awards . The Webby Awards Homepage. The app was later withdrawn."Karoo home page ," Care.com web site
In November 2013, Care.com filed for an initial public offering with details of the IPO first revealed a month later.Kyle Alspach, "Care.com sets IPO share range at $14-$16; could raise up to $86M ," Boston Business Journal, January 10, 2014.Rebecca Grant, “Care.com raising $80M IPO to capture early (and massive) care market ,” Venture Beat, December 12, 2013.
Prior to its IPO in January 2014, Care.com had raised $111 million in funding from investors including Matrix Partners,Om Malik, “Reid Hoffman invests in Care.com ,” GigaOm, July 30, 2007.Matt Marshall, "Caring.com, a site for caregivers, to launch this week ," VentureBeat, September 20, 2007. Trinity Ventures,James M. Connolly, "Care.com raises $25 million with insurer USAA as corporate VC ," Boston Business Journal, October 12, 2011."Care.com, Inc. Obtains $9,999,900 New Financing Round ," Xconomy.com. New Enterprise Associates,Leena Rao, "Care.com Raises $20 Million To Connect You To Nannies, Babysitters And Caregivers ," TechCrunch, October 12, 2010. USAA,James M. Connolly, “Care.com raises $25 million with insurer USAA as corporate VC ,” Boston Business Journal, October 12, 2011. and Institutional Venture Partners (IVP).Brian Womack, “Care.com Raises $50 Million in Fifth Round of VC Funding ,” Bloomberg Businessweek, August 7, 2012. In January 2014, the company reportedly planned to raise $85.6 million by offering 5.35 million shares, at $14 to $16 each, on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CRCM".Ben Fox Rubin, "Care.com Sets IPO Range at $14 to $16 a Share ," Wall Street Journal, January 10, 2014. On January 23, 2014, 5.35 million shares were priced at $17.Kyle Alspach, "Care.com prices IPO above forecast, ends Boston's VC-backed tech IPO drought ," Boston Business Journal, January 23, 2014. Care.com went public on January 24, 2014, with shares priced at $22.55, up about 30 percent from its initial pricing.Russ Britt, "Care.com shares surge by a third on care finder's first day of trading ," MarketWatch, January 24, 2014. It was the first Boston venture-funded technology company to go public in almost two years.
In 2015, The Boston Globe reported about a couple defrauded by a nanny who had cleared the site's screening processes as well as other instances where families in the United States were suing the company for alleged negligence in properly conducting background checks. In March 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that the site listed day care providers as licensed in their state when they were not. Care.com responded by eliminating unverified childcare listings created automatically but never claimed by the facility owner from the site and strengthening member screening procedures.
In December 2019, holding company IAC announced its intention to acquire Care.com for $500 million, and completed the acquisition on February 11, 2020, at which time Care.com ceased trading on the NYSE. As part of the deal, IAC executive Tim Allen became CEO of Care.com.Elly Cosgrove, "Care.com shares surge after Barry Diller's IAC agrees to buy online caregiver marketplace ," CNBC, December 20, 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company enabled several states, municipalities and non-profits to help frontline workers in those communities find care for their families.
In August 2024, Care.com reached an agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission to provide $8.5 million in refunds to caregivers whom the company allegedly deceived about the number of jobs available on its platform and their payment rates, as well as to families for whom the company made it difficult to cancel their memberships. However, the company emphasized that the settlement is in no way a validation of the FTC's claims but is meant to keep its focus on helping customers. Care.com also stated that it was prepared to litigate the case for several years if necessary.
In June 2025, Care.com announced a new identity and tools to reflect its shift from primarily providing childcare to offering a broader range of caregiving services, including senior care, pet care, home help, and camp searches.
In March 2026, IAC sold Care.com to an affiliate of Pacific Avenue Capital Partners for $320 million.
Controversy over the idea Immediately prior to founding Care.com Marcelo was an Entrepreneur in residence at Matrix Partners. While there, she and Matrix partner Nick Beim met with the founders of Sittercity.com and Sitters.com, two existing websites for finding caregivers which had been founded years earlier. The purpose of the meetings were to discuss a potential investment and bringing Marcelo in as CEO. Matrix Partners did not invest in either firm and, months later, Marcelo would found Care.com and receive $3.5 million in Series A funding from Matrix Partners, with Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn also participating in that round.
Mike Cravens, founder of Sitters.com, is quoted as saying that the meetings Marcelo and Beim had with him "were more than just a couple of meetings... the reality is that they did a deep dive into my company and then used that information to jump-start Care.com". Cravens furnished the Boston Globe with emails from Marcelo in which tells Craven that she would not entertain starting her own business which would compete with Sitters.com.
Publications Since 2013, Care.com has released Cost of Care, an annual proprietary research report covering cost of child care trends borne by families in the US per year, along with cost-saving strategies for child care needs.
Acquisitions CompanyYearBreedlove & AssociatesChris Reidy, “Care.com acquires Breedlove & Associates ,” Boston Globe, August 21, 2012.Kyle Alspach, “Care.com acquires payroll biz ,” Mass High Tech, August 21, 2012.2012Besser Betreut GmbH.Brian Womack, “Care.com Acquires Besser Betreut as Website Expands Internationally,” Bloomberg.com, July 11, 2012.2012Parents in a PinchChris Reidy, “Care.com buys Parents in a Pinch ,” Boston Globe, January 15, 2013.2012Citrus Lane"Care.com acquires Citrus Lane ", Care.com, July 17, 2014."Care.com shutting down e-commerce firm it previously acquired ", bizjournals.com, October 29, 2015.2014Town + Country Resources2018Galore2018Trusted2018LifeCare2020
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