Parents everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief, because Kango, the kids’ ride-hail app that doubles as a childcare service, may be coming to help soon.
Today the service announced a $3.6 million Series A funding round, led by National Express, the transportation group best known for providing rides to the airport and transporting 1.2 million students to school on a daily basis. It’s probably a good investment, as Kango has reached what finance wonks call “positive unit economics,” meaning they make money on every ride.
Like its competitors in the space, HopSkipDrive and Zūm, Kango is not only a godsend for harried parents trying to be at soccer and gymnastics at exactly the same time, but it is also working with school districts to provide rides to students.
“At Kango, we’re proud that our track record of responsibility and reliability has fueled our family-first mission. We are excited that this funding, along with our strategic partnership with National Express, will help us expand that to help even more people: more parents and children, but also organizations such as schools and school districts,” said Sara Schaer, cofounder and CEO of Kango in a statement to Fast Company. “Helping schools is helping families, so we’re looking forward to growing those partnerships in addition to widening our area of service.”
Kango is unique in the Uber-for-kids space in that it offers on-demand same-day rides with no cutoff time for booking, and is the only kids’ ride-hailing provider to also offer childcare without a time limit. It can also help if you’re a parent who doesn’t need a ride to Mommy and Me yoga, but does need someone to watch your kid while you, say, work. Kango also lets parents book childcare through the app. Since all drivers and sitters are thoroughly vetted, background-checked, and Trustline caregiver-certified in California, parents can use the service to find a trustworthy sitter in a pinch.
Because Kango works with kids, it doesn’t believe in applying Silicon Valley’s unofficial “move fast break things” motto and instead opts to grow carefully, methodically, and safely. With the new funding, Kango hopes to continue to grow, expanding beyond its current service areas around San Francisco and Greater Los Angeles to meet the growing demand for safe rides from families and organizations across the country.
Many parents across the country probably hope they would move just a little faster.
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