Uber for kids company secures $3.9 million in seed money

Marco della Cava | USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — With Uber all the rage among ride-hailing adults, it's little wonder that companies aiming for a more specific rider — children — are gaining momentum and backing.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles-based HopSkipDrive announced a $3.9 million seed round, according to a statement from the company. The round was led by Upfront Ventures with participation from FirstMark Capital, Maveron and BBG Ventures.

The funding will be used to scale the startup, which was founded by three time-crunched mothers with eight children between them.

"We created HopSkipDrive to solve the problem we each faced getting our own kids to school and activities," Joanna McFarland, co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. McFarland has a background in product management, while Chief Operating Officer Carolyn Yashari Becher was a non-profit lawyer and Chief Marketing Officer Janelle McGlothlin runs branding firm Writebrand Inc.

Upfront Ventures partner Greg Bettinelli added: "General ride-sharing solutions don't meet the needs of this unique market (with its) pre-arranged rides, strong focus on safety, and specialized logistics not required for adult riders. We see a real growth opportunity with this differentiated approach."

In contrast to on-demand services such as Uber and Lyft, HopSkipDrive and Shuddle allow parents to book rides well in advance. Apps give details on the drivers coming to collect children, and show the car in motion while it's in progress. Most drivers are women with extensive child care experience.

Launched in March, HopSkipDrive now has more than 100 contracted drivers, all of whom go through a robust vetting process that includes interviews, vehicle-safety inspections and background checks that include TrustLine, a fingerprint-anchored scan for arrests that the California Public Utilities Commission requires of services that work with children.

HopSkipDrive's more established Northern California rival, Shuddle (which has raised some $12 million since launching last fall), recently began running its contracted drivers through TrustLine. Shuddle CEO Nick Allen agreed to the process after the CPUC issued Shuddle a cease-and-desist order. But Allen maintains that Shuddle's driver-vetting process is more thorough than what state officials mandate and is hoping CPUC officials eventually change their standards.

"We're not concerned about what other companies are doing," McFarland told USA TODAY recently. "We consider TrustLine the gold standard and that's why we use it."

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