Being a parent in the 21st century often means connecting with other parents on social networking sites to find out how they keep their kids busy and happy, whether that means browsing posts in Facebook groups or following parent-oriented Pinterest boards.
But finding and keeping track of all the available information on where to send your child to summer camp or which instant pot recipes are best for picky eaters can be difficult. That’s where Upparent comes in.
The Chicago startup, founded in 2016, has built an online platform where parents can find hyper-local results for child activities recommended by other parents. A search in Chicago can provide parent-approved summer camps, indoor playgrounds and acting classes, said Alexandra Fung, Upparent’s co-founder and CEO.
Besides localized recommendations, Fung said Upparent also provides content that would be useful to users no matter where they are. Upparent lists personalized gift ideas, child-friendly recipes and information on how much Tooth Fairy money other parents are giving their kids.
“We’re always asking other parents for their recommendations on these things,” said Fung, who has three children of her own and took a break from being an attorney to build Upparent.
“I took a step back from practicing law to do this because it’s something that I really believe in and am excited about,” she continued. “This is a great opportunity for me as a mother and also as an entrepreneur.”
Fung and her co-founders launched Upparent out of frustrations with there not being a sole platform for parents to share their parenting ideas. Many get ideas from other parents by word-of-mouth, while some turn to social media. But scrolling through hundreds of posts, trying to find one that provides useful information, can be time-consuming.
“As conversations move quickly on social media, that information can become difficult to find,” Fung said.
But Upparent shows users hyper-local results and organizes the information for them so they can search by activity or category.
“Upparent distinguishes itself by its usability,” Fung said. “It is very tailored and personalized. And it is very easy to search and find this content at any given time.”
Upparent isn’t the only upstart providing this type of service. New York-based Yuggler has created an app that provides geo-based information on child- and family-friendly activities, based on experiences from parents. Additionally, Chicago startup Pearachute operates in a similar space, providing a ClassPass-based model for kids' activities.
Besides Chicago, Upparent has users in 21 other markets, including Los Angeles, Boston and New York. Fung said the startup sees 26,000 unique users to its website every month.
Upparent is free to use but the startup plans to explore advertising and affiliate marketing methods to monetize it down the line, Fung said.
“Our goal right now is to create this website that parents love,” she said. “We want to become a space where parents can gather all these conversations that we’re having separately amongst ourselves, so we can make it more useful for all of us.”
