Childcare Platform Juggle Street Pitches to Investors

It’s probably no surprise to harried parents that there’s been a significant uptake in demand for flexible, last-minute childcare.

Juggle Street – a thriving connector of families to babysitters, nannies, au pairs and tutors – is a shining byproduct of this. Having launched in 2014, they now have more than 93,000 registered users across Australia and New Zealand, and 1,000-plus new users signing up every week.

Juggle Street lets parents set the price of every job and they don’t take a cut from the carers’ payments. Parents can either pay for each job they post or take an annual subscription and post unlimited jobs. Carers decide if the job suits them and apply or decline in real time. The platform works via a mobile-optimised website with text messages sent when jobs are posted and candidates reply from their phones.

Juggle Street founder and Sydney-based father of four David James says the need to bring communities together was the driving force behind the neighbourhood marketplace.

“I grew up in a tight-knit neighbourhood where all the kids played outside and all the parents knew each other; back then this was the norm,” says Mr James. “We are all still craving that sense of community which is now difficult due to increased work hours, longer commutes and not having your family just around the corner. That’s why Juggle Street is so important, it creates meaningful and lasting relationships between neighbours of all ages.”

Author, journalist and mother of three, Georgie Dent, advocates Juggle Street as a solution for busy families.

“I had to go to a last minute evening event for work just the other week and within minutes I got a reply and a babysitter sorted for my three children,” she says. “I now have a pool of trusted carers that we can call on. This is invaluable for those who don’t have family nearby.”

We’re craving that sense of community which is now difficult due to increased work hours, longer commutes and not having family around the corner.

– Juggle Street founder David James

Now Juggle Street is giving parents and investors the chance to buy into the company, through equity crowdfunding platform Birchal from as little as $250. With access to new capital, Juggle Street intends fastracking its goal of one million users across Australia and New Zealand while expanding into the high school tutoring market, having recently launched primary school home tutoring.

One of Australia’s most active angel investors and co-founder of Investible, Trevor Folsom, was a Juggle Street user before he invested in the business.

“I saw Juggle Street was solving a massive problem in our communities while also being a great investment opportunity,” says Mr Folsom. “This equity crowdfunding is a rare opportunity to have a piece of a business at its ‘scale-up’ stage rather than a start-up. It’s an investment that will have a real social impact, and people will be able to see the positive effect of Juggle Street in their own community.”

Juggle Street also provides regular income for gig-economy workers such as uni students and empty-nesters looking to keep busy or supplement their retirement.

Angela Brownlee, 61, who is known as a real-life ‘Mary Poppins’ to the more than 60 families she’s supported in Sydney, says Juggle Street have given her some financial freedom in retirement.

“The flexibility is amazing because I have total autonomy. I can pick and choose my hours and the types of jobs I accept, working as often or as little as I like,” she says.”

For expressions of interest for equity in Juggle Street, go to https://www.birchal.com/company/jugglestreet.