PHL Inno's weekly "Startup Spotlight" feature highlights founders and new businesses cropping up in the region.
The startup: Just Parent is an app providing personalized, evidence-based parenting training courses built by clinicians.
Founded: 2020
Home base: Havertown
Founder: Sara Romano, 28, sought to build a childhood behavioral health app for connected parents that use mobile apps for everything from tracking and monitoring eating and sleeping to sitting up and baby steps.
Romano studied psychology at Columbia University. She also previously worked in film as a production assistant for Warner Bros., including a stint on the set of “Ocean’s 8” in 2018.
The daughter of a special education teacher, Romano struggled with early ADHD, anxiety symptoms and behaviors that were sometimes exacerbated by parenting decisions. Twenty years later, on the cusp of having children herself, Romano found that there are resources for people who are aware of their children’s behavioral health challenges, but that the number of options often overwhelmed parents.
Pediatricians can help diagnose a child with behavioral health challenges, but some children may not fit the criteria for a specific diagnosis, and blog posts and books don’t always cover all the issues, she said. Many workbooks and DVDs on the market are also antiquated, Romano said.
Romano calls Just Parent “the guidebook your kids didn’t come with.”
“From our research, we've found that parents generally don't want to ‘mess their kids up,’” Romano said. “And so they spend a lot of time and resources looking into what it is that they should be doing, but oftentimes are coming up short, and that's where Just Parent really fits.”
The product: Just Parent has courses on challenges for families including effective communication, temper tantrums, limit-setting, handling emotions and potty training. The app is focused on families with children ages 2 to 8.
Just Parent is still in development. It will have automated and personalized behavioral therapy technology so they can help their children while they’re at home. The app will have a survey for parents that can help identify why children are misbehaving, including environmental factors, age and other data. It then delivers a skills-based curriculum that parents can implement at their own speed.
“The idea is that as one skill is successfully implemented, parents and families will be able to move on and we will ultimately see a decrease in that behavior as we replace negative behaviors with more positive, socially acceptable ones,” Romano said.
Just Parent employs several clinicians, who are available through a live chat function to support families. The clinicians put together the courses on the Just Parent app, and the company plans to bring on a full-time director of clinical content to help further develop courses, Romano said.
Just Parent is planning to launch a beta version of the app soon, with the goal of becoming a subscription-based service.
Funding: The app is seeking to raise a $300,000 pre-seed round this summer, Romano said. The round would fund marketing operations and help build the startup’s minimum viable product.
The goal: Just Parent will continue app development in the coming months. The beta is currently “high touch,” connecting families with clinicians and board-certified behavioral analysts for courses. Romano wants the MVP version of the app to feature courses that are more automated.
The startup is also focusing on building its brand and winning customers. “There is a ton of noise in the parenting space, and I think that's one of our challenges that we're facing,” Romano said.
