Do you have lots of rich friends? People who would throw money at you, no questions asked, if you started a business?
If you don’t, you might decide to crowdfund - but are you doing it for the right reasons?
Over the past decade, crowdfunding has become a staple of most startup fundraising strategies. Startup founders are advised to include it for publicity purposes and many use it to announce their business to the world.
That said, it is an expensive way to fundraise. Crowdfunding platforms will take a percentage of the money any entrepreneur raises, in return for completing the necessary due diligence, helping them through the process, and managing the legal side.
However, there are some that see the whole idea of crowdfunding as a bit grubby. Isn’t having a few significant backers indicative of a stronger business? If someone is only prepared to invest £50, they can’t have much confidence in the long-term potential of the startup, can they?
It is true that closing a big equity deal with a high-profile backer is a thrilling experience. It gives you the opportunity to negotiate with experienced business people from whom you will undoubtedly learn something; it will most likely generate press coverage and will open doors over time.
All of these things are great, but have these wealthy backers ever experienced the problem that Fetching is trying to solve?
Have they ever said "put your trousers on!" so many times in one morning, that they wondered if they are saying it right?
Have they ever run sweating and panicked to the school gate at pick-up time? Have they ever been treated like a slacker for leaving work early to collect their children?
Because those are the people that we want to take part in our fundraise.
Maybe they are people who have never invested before.
Maybe they are people like you.
We are creating a world where no-one is limited by the cost of childcare. No meetings are cut short, no plans are cancelled and, most importantly, no parent is made to feel guilty for doing or not doing the school run.
That’s why we chose to crowdfund, to give real parents like you the opportunity to benefit from our success. You are the parents who need Fetching - we don’t know you all yet, but we can’t wait for you to become part of our journey.
As life begins to return to normal, we are likely to see people working fewer days in the office and parents working more flexibly, giving them even more opportunity to use Fetching as their preferred form of after-school childcare. By collecting another person’s child as well as their own, parents earn credits that they can use when they need their own child collecting.
We have seen the strain that childcare has put on working parents over the past 12 months. Even when working from home, having the opportunity to complete a full working day at no extra cost cannot be underestimated. Especially when you know that your child is being cared for by a friend that you know and trust.
We know that you don’t like to rely on friends and family for help. Maybe you hate the idea of owing someone a favour, or perhaps it is having to contact the school about the change of arrangements… again.
Fetching is the only after-school childcare app with a fully integrating schools platform, meaning that your child's school is automatically informed and has full visibility of who will be collecting each child every day.
Fetching removes the barriers that prevent parents using shared childcare, and makes it the most efficient and cost-effective way to manage the school run.
Our crowdfund* is now live so, if you would like to own part of We Are Fetching, check out our pitch on Crowdcube for more information.
*Investments of this nature carry risks to your capital.