MyVillage is a Bozeman, Montana-based startup that has built a solution for the nation’s early childcare crisis. Recently, MyVillage announced it raised $5.95 million in a seed round of funding. This funding round will be used for expanding its high-quality childcare locations in Colorado and Montana along with expansion into more states.
The investors in this round include Acumen, Jasmine Social Investments, Better Ventures, Atlassian Foundation, Kairos, Impact Engine, Red Sea Ventures, and several others.
MyVillage co-founder and CEO Erica Mackey and co-founder and CFO Elizabeth Szymanski both experienced the firsthand pain of trying to find affordable childcare for their own children. Once they did some research, the two entrepreneurs quickly learned that the system was not working for childcare providers either.
“MyVillage is committed to building a community of people who are earning a great living while providing high-quality, licensed, affordable childcare using their own homes as places of business,” said Mackey in a statement. “Each MyVillage location creates or supports a small business, allowing six to 12 parents – usually women – to return to the workforce with peace of mind.”
The Center for American Progress reported that 51% of Americans live in a “childcare desert,” which refers to a census tract with over 50 children under age 5 that contains either no childcare providers or so few options that children outnumber licensed childcare slots.
MyVillage is a Frontiers of Innovation partner at the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard and leverages the knowledge of early childhood experts in order to provide child-led and research-backed curricula to all MyVillage educators. These educators also receive front- and back-office tools such as accounting, marketing, and scheduling in order to make it easier to launch and run an in-home childcare program. Plus there is personalized support and guidance from the best early childhood educations in the nation who help new providers along the way as they become a licensed provider.
“Acumen America invested in MyVillage because it has the team, strategy, determination and moral imagination to challenge the status quo of child care in the U.S.,” added Acumen America director Catherine Casey Nanda. “The company has a scalable solution that will work in every state to solve the national childcare crisis.”
In about one year of operations in Colorado and Montana, MyVillage received higher than a 98% customer satisfaction rating (NPS) from parents. MyVillage also partners with the public sector to complement existing programs and standards with a shared goal of improving outcomes for chilren.
“Joining MyVillage has helped me grow my career as an experienced in-home educator, and now I get to mentor new educators joining the field,” explained Kerry Stewart — the owner of Mountain View Early Learning in Colorado and a MyVillage mentor. “I love introducing passionate caregivers to our incredible MyVillage community and helping support them in running a thriving in-home childcare business. My role at MyVillage allows me to focus on what I love: teaching kids and supporting new in-home providers.”
