Why We Backed WeeCare and Key Learnings Over the Past Six Months

Child care is an anxiety-provoking topic for most parents in America. For every three children seeking daycare nationally, only one spot is available. Almost a fifth of families spend more than a quarter of their income on child care, and for many, daycare is an unaffordable option costing upwards of $1,500/month. In addition, many of the caregivers and teachers themselves ultimately stop working because the cost of child care for their own children is almost as much as their take-home income. With these caregivers leaving the workforce, it means even fewer options for parents.

When Jessica, Jesse & Matt — the founders of WeeCare — approached us they told us tales of Jessica’s recent encounters trying to sign her son up for daycare. Not only were the options extremely expensive — upwards of $3,000/month in the Los Angeles area — but she had to put down a deposit and place him on a waitlist while she was still pregnant in order to even have a chance at a spot. After digging in more, she realized the quality of care, even at the most expensive options, left a lot to be desired. Frustrated by this, she looked further into the market and realized there was a real opportunity to change child care in America for the better. With that, WeeCare was born.

WeeCare is solving the supply and quality of care problem inherent in this $48bn industry. WeeCare offers former educators and child care providers the simplest way to start and manage a successful daycare from the comfort of their own home. As soon as a new WeeCare partner passes a rigorous initial screening, they are walked through a turn-key, step-by-step process to launch their own daycare business. Using WeeCare’s software partners can set up tuition payments, define a schedule and curriculum, communicate with parents, get insurance, market their daycare, and meet all state health and safety standards. Furthermore, WeeCare’s platform makes it possible to quickly set up daycares in areas that are otherwise heavily underserved. And with their extreme focus on the quality of care, they are able to provide a premium experience for parents and children, offering smaller group sizes and lower-child to-caregiver ratios.

Our decision to back WeeCare was only further supported by our past experience with the team. Jessica was the former VP of Marketplace at RadPad, a previous Amplify portfolio company, as well as a proud owner of two local preschools here in Los Angeles. Matt was the co-founder of AlphaDraft, which Amplify backed in 2015. AlphaDraft was later acquired by FanDuel, after which Matt worked alongside Jessica at RadPad as their Director of Growth. And Jesse was known locally as one of the strongest engineering minds in LA, having formerly been the Director of Engineering at Tradesy.

Since first backing WeeCare last August, we’ve had the opportunity to see them take their concept to market and begin building out their team. Watching them at Amplify over the last six months has only reinforced our perspective on the team and the business. Here are a few areas in which we believe they’ve excelled:

1. Early team discipline. Even as a team of three, the founders were religious about keeping to scheduled meetings and predefined processes. Putting processes in place early allowed WeeCare to be better prepared as their team grew. This early discipline laid the roadmap for a successful and well-run organization with strong lines of communication.

2. Work under an agile process. When we first invested in WeeCare, it was only a concept. Over the past few months, we’ve watched them methodically build the marketplace by testing each of their assumptions carefully and iterating quickly. Although they have a product roadmap stretching out into the distant future, every two weeks the team gathers to share learnings, challenges, and questions in order to determine immediate needs. This regular feedback loop has helped them uncover operational bottlenecks and new customer pain points while focusing on building a foundation for scalability.

3. Be proactive about building culture. One of the things we love the most about this team is their dedication to building a culture of excellence. Not only does everyone work extremely hard, but they also make time for regular team lunches, outings, and team building activities. During one-on-one meetings and company-wide retrospectives, the team has the ability to ask questions and add suggestions based on their work experience. This has cultivated a culture of trust, transparency, and growth. They’ve built a team that feels like a family and we’re confident WeeCare will continue to be one of the best places to work in Los Angeles for many years to come.

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