Kangarootime is revolutionizing childcare practices that were seemingly left behind as the rest of the world went digital. Founded by Scott Wayman, a Graduate of the Los Angeles Founder Institute, the cloud-based application which launched in January saw over 2,000 downloads in their first month and signed up over 100 daycare centers for implementation as well in that same period. There is a lot of excitement about Kangarootime because nobody else is providing these services for child care professionals.
In the words of Wayman himself,
Traditionally, most early childhood and elementary schools have lagged behind the times in their use of technology, instead using very manual tools for enrollment and billing. This app gives them access to one of the most advanced databases in education technology. So many of the technology products in childcare are very antiquated and running on ancient technology. Our platform isn't just modern, it's entirely cloud-based so schools can run our entire platform on a $150 Chromebook or tablet."
Wayman has a very unique perspective on childcare. When he was a young man of 28, he and his family went through a terrible tragedy, as both of Wayman's parents died within a year of each other, and the care of Wayman's 10-year-old brother fell onto him. Soon after adopting his brother, he realized that raising a child was difficult and that there was a huge market, childcare, that was being underserved.
Kangarootime is not just a tool for daycare centers but also for parents. The software allows parents and centers alike to check children in and out of daycare according to all of the proper state regulations, allow parents to share pictures of their children at play at the centers, and it is also a payment system among other things.
Kangarootime won Vator Splash LA, which landed them a lot of buzz in the technology community as well as seed funding from Mucker Capital. The company also finished second in seed funding at Techweek LA. As Wayman says,
Our vertical is not that sexy, it’s childcare, but the investment community sees that there’s a need.”
The cloud-based software has innovative capabilities that streamline the whole child care process. Features include automated classrooms, automated billing, and geolocation features that allow users to check children in and out without having to manually fill out any forms. It also allows users to share portions of their profiles with others such as close family friends or other relatives so that they can also use the same system to drop-off or pick-up a child, and there is a messenger feature that allows parents and child care professionals to stay in touch.
So how does the company intend to make money with this software? Kangarootime has a simple and elegant business model. The software and application are free for parents and daycare centers alike. Kangarootime will charge a 3 percent transaction fee on the credit card transactions of centers who use their service. Within this three percent, the company will make their profits.
The ideal target customers right now for the company are early child care education centers. Currently, 80 percent of these institutions are still using paper records. With no other visible competition at the moment and an application that can save users over 100 hours of labor through automation, Kangarootime has a lot of potential to convert a large portion of that 80 percent still using paper records to their service. Every second counts in the hectic schedules of child care professionals. Kangarootime is a company that provides a valuable, unique, and vital service to an underserved market.
