Starting a new company is, by just about every measurable variable, a giant leap of faith. But when you’ve got a handy-dandy parachute strapped securely to your back, things get a little less uncertain.
No one knows that better than Chicago tech staple Desiree Vargas Wrigley, who co-founded
but has very recently moved on to her newest venture — a six-week-old "ClassPass for kid’s activities" aptly named Pearachute.
Despite the company’s veritable youth, TechCrunch is reporting the company has reeled in $1.2 million in seed funding from investors already sold on the viability of what Vargas Wrigley’s selling. Those investors represent a who’s who of Chicago tech, including former Match.com CEO Sam Yagan (who doubles as Pearachute’s chair), Techstars co-founder David Cohen, HotelTonight CEO Sam Shank, SitterCity co-founder Genevieve Theirs, and your regular, first-billed venture capital funds like Hyde Park Venture Partners and Chicago Ventures.
The space, as TechCrunch points out, is getting as packed as some of the classes you might be trying to sign your kid up for. But compared to the $325,000 seed round raised by New York-based competitor Kid Pass, Pearachute’s funding is anything but kiddie.
The monthly subscription service is designed to help parents and guardians better find, book, and reschedule their children's classes and activities. For $99 a month per child, parents can unlock unlimited access to activities ranging from ballet lessons to art classes. Under the membership, kids can visit any participating studio up to three times in 30 day.
Alternatively, customers can sign up for five classes a month for $79.
Vargas Wrigley told TechCrunch that Pearachute is already working with 35 activity centers and about 1,200 parents of children aged zero to five, although — depending on how well the services sticks — there may be room to expand the service to include activities for older kids, like summer camps.
The company already has a headcount of five and expects to roll out into additional cities by year’s end.
Photo via Shutterstock.
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