When Rebecca Lock was looking to return to the reality TV production business after having her two children, she ran into an issue many working parents do: How do you get them to all the places they need to go?
The Harrisburg-based entrepreneur couldn’t find anyone who’d reliably transport her young kids, and ultimately had to “walk away” from her career, she said.
In 2019, she began thinking about tech solutions to the problem she and many other parents faced. There are other kid-focused rideshare services, but some who tried have not succeeded. Lock knew it would require a costly and time-intensive insurance and safety process. Still, for three years, she sought to build the type of app she herself would want to use.
In mid-2022, Lock launched Kidcaboo, an Uber-like app used by parents and drivers to coordinate rides for children. A parent downloads the app from the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store, and fills out information about their child — medical needs, likes and dislikes, personality info and so on. They can then schedule rides with a screened and safety-checked driver, where they’ll receive a one-off fare estimate for the trip. The parent’s app allows them to track the driver’s GPS location at all times.
Kidcaboo’s app. (Courtesy image)
A big motivation for Lock’s work was her own experience of childcare affecting her career decisions. Women, especially, are often making hard choices between domestic care and building their career. Many are being taken out of the work equation involuntarily. Kidcaboo is aiming to alleviate one of the common childcare burdens working parents face, Lock said, “so their parents don’t have to be skipped over.”
“We thought, ‘What can work for these kids?’” she said. Not having access to a service like this “was resulting in divorces, women going into retirement — there is a real, real dire problem.”
Lock works with a full-time team of about a dozen people, and a five-person development group in India. The app is built on open-source UI software development kit Flutter. Kidcaboo first launched in the summer of 2022 in Texas, and has since expanded to Connecticut, North Carolina, Arizona, Virginia, Nebraska and recently, Pennsylvania.
Lock is excited to be working in her home state and contributing to the tech scene here, though she said she never imagined herself as an entrepreneur before starting this venture. The app follows guidelines around children’s transportation in each state it operates in, and although there’s no defined age range for use, the app doesn’t serve children who still require five-point harness car seats.
Her team has raised a seed round, and is prepping to raise a pre-series A round. Though she didn’t disclose the amounts of the rounds, she said she’s received an investment from She’s Independent, a new, mission-driven, women-focused angel investment group. The group’s focus on propelling women’s careers and women founders resonated deeply with Lock.
As the app expands through Pennsylvania, the founder said she’s excited to make more connections in the Greater Philly area. Kidcaboo is currently operating in all of the state’s counties but Philadelphia, and her team is making an effort to build trust within parents and neighborhoods surrounding the city. Lock said she’s been getting good reactions when connecting with Philly- and Pittsburgh-area investors.
“I think there’s a lot this state has to offer in being a place where tech could really thrive,” Lock said.
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