It's a familiar scenario. A working parent, swamped with a frenzy of emails or an unprecedented slew of phone calls, zips through traffic in a panic to pick up their kid on time from soccer or ballet. They can’t find anyone to take up their driving duties; instead, they're left alone to juggle the stress of work and familial obligation.
Three working fathers—Aaron DaSilva, Evan McDaniel and Doug Parrish—could relate to this struggle. So while talking over a couple of beers in late 2017, the trio became inspired to create a carpool-scheduling application geared toward busy families’ needs.
That conversation was the spark for Floc.
“I know all the challenges that come with balancing a career and shuttling your kids to their after-school activities,” said DaSilva, a Hanover-based advertising director and Floc’s CEO. “The idea of getting our kids to and from where they need to be is always kind of a hassle for us.”
Launched in April, the app allows parents to request rides for their children from a closed, invite-only circle, or “flock.” It’s a pseudo-rideshare service that melds the convenience of apps like Uber and Lyft with the security of parents' self-selected lists of trusted drivers.
As its founders pitch it, Floc eliminates the need for excessive communication between parents via text, phone and email. Instead, they can call well-acquainted family and friends into separate flocks tailored to individual activities through the app itself. For example, a parent can message his "fall football" flock asking for a last-minute ride to practice and have his request answered in seconds. When a driver completes a ride, a quick touch of a button on the app alerts the parent who made the request that his child is both safe and on time.
“We all have flocks. When it comes to scheduling kids’ rides, we just forget who they are,” DaSilva said. “We are like, ‘Oh my god, who can we talk to? Oh yeah, this person, this person and this person. They are my flock. They are the trusted friends and family that I depend on—a small group of people I could go to at any time.'”
Parents can even virtually thank drivers who have pitched in during times of need. Through Floc's partnership with Giftbit, a digital gift card marketplace, users can send pre-set $10 gift cards for stores including Amazon, iTunes and Starbucks to members of their flocks in exchange for the favor. The cards’ processing fees are funneled into Floc’s fund for future developments.
DaSilva said families can use the in-app gift card service to persuade younger drivers, like college-age relatives, to help out as well.
“In today’s day and age, I'm in competition for younger people’s attention. I want to incentivize them,” DaSilva said.
After informally polling acquaintances' interest in the app early last year, DaSilva and his team spent 16 months toying with Floc's functions. During development, Floc was a “side passion project” for the team. They built it in inconsistent bursts outside their full-time jobs. When Floc debuted on the App Store and Google Play, the dads disseminated it to a small group for a test run.
Now, Floc has 200 active users in the Boston area who send ride requests back and forth at all hours. Current users have invited more than 200 more parents to the app in the hopes of expanding their carpool networks. Today, Floc’s audience is largely based in the city’s suburbs, but the app is wired to function globally.
The team prioritized parents’ potential concerns about children’s safety and privacy. McDaniel, Floc’s CTO, enabled a strict age policy and text message verification system for each user.
In the future, DaSilva plans to improve the application’s calendar feature and instate a real-time GPS monitoring system that plays a key role in similar programs. But DaSilva starkly separates the brand from other transportation apps.
“Floc was never intended to replace other rideshare services that may come to mind,” DaSilva said. “After having spent countless hours trying to figure out those rides and scheduling that with my wife, the idea of friends helping friends out is what’s most important to me.”
