Sittercity.com

Sittercity.com is an American website connecting families, individuals and corporate employees with local in-home care. Types of caregivers that can be found on Sittercity.com include babysitters, nannies, pet sitters, dog walkers, senior care providers, housekeepers and tutors.[1] The site currently has over one million registered caregivers.[2]

History

Sittercity.com was established in 2001 in Boston by Genevieve Thiers, a college student and babysitter at the time.[3] When it launched, Sittercity was a Boston-only service that centered on childcare and featured local babysitters and nannies.[4]

As Sittercity spread to cities beyond Boston, Thiers moved the company headquarters to Chicago, IL in 2002 to geographically center the operation. By 2004, Sittercity had become a nationwide service.[5]

Sittercity’s Corporate Program was launched in 2005 to allow companies, hospitals, universities and government organizations to pay for Sittercity memberships on behalf of their employees as a corporate child care benefit. The first client to adopt Sittercity’s Corporate Program in 2005 was Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.[6] Other companies that have used the Sittercity Corporate Program include FOX Networks, MasterCard Worldwide, Avon and New Balance[7]

In early 2009, Sittercity announced that it had received $7.5 million in equity financing, co-led by Apex Venture Partners and Point Judith Capital.[8]

In July 2010, Sittercity was named finalist in the Lead411's “2010 Hottest Companies in the Midwest”.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Sittercity: Find Babysitters, Nannies, Pet Sitters, Housekeepers, Elder Care, Tutors and More". Sittercity.com. http://www.sittercity.com. 
  2. ^ Streit, Meghan (11 February 2009). "Sittercity.com lands $7.5M in funding". Crain’s. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=32982. 
  3. ^ Lapin, Nicole (8 March 2009). "Oldest of seven children is now a baby-sitting CEO". CNN Online. http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/03/08/ypwr.thiers/index.html?iref=allsearch. 
  4. ^ "Sitting Pretty". Northwestern University. 2007. http://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/spring2007/feature/thiers.html. 
  5. ^ "Interview with Genevieve Thiers of SitterCity.com". DivineCaroline.com. August 2007. http://www.divinecaroline.com/22129/32965-interview-genevieve-thiers-sittercity-com/print. 
  6. ^ Raines, Laura. "SUMMERTIME BLUES". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. http://www.ajc.com/hotjobs/content/hotjobs/careercenter/articles/2006_0611_summerblues.html. 
  7. ^ "Sittercity.com lands $7.5M in funding". Business POV. 12 March 2007. http://www.businesspov.com/article/160. </re>In January 2010, Sittercity partnered with the Department of Defense to provide military families access to the service at no cost.ref>Wilson, Elaine (28 January 2010). "SMilitary Families Get Free Access to Caregiver Network". Defense.gov. http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57778. 
  8. ^ Streit, Meghan (11 February 2009). "Sittercity.com lands $7.5M in funding". Crain’s. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=32982. 
  9. ^ Lead411 launches "Hottest Companies in the Midwest" awards

External links