Winnie is a marketplace for child care that helps parents find childcare, preschool, and early education.
It is based in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and was founded in 2016 by Sara Mauskopf and Anne Halsall.
History
The Winnie iPhone app was launched in June 2016. In October 2016, Winnie announced that it raised $2.5 million in seed funding. In May 2017, Winnie launched a daycare and preschool finder.
In 2018, Winnie began expanding nationwide, allowing parents to find childcare options across the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
By 2019, Winnie had comprehensive databases in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
,
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, and
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
.
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Winnie provided emergency childcare options for essential workers.
In October 2019, Winnie secured $9 million in Series A funding. The funding was intended to support the platform’s expansion, which provides information on daycare and preschool options across more than 7,000 U.S. cities.
Starting in 2020, Winnie expanded its offerings to include searches for school-age childcare.
In 2021, it introduced a search for free preschool and Head Start programs.
During the U.S. childcare staffing crisis in 2022, Winnie launched a job board tailored to daycare and preschool roles to help address staffing needs.
In 2022, it introduced a dedicated search for special needs childcare.
In the same year, Winnie introduced Winnie Pro, a SaaS solution that allows childcare providers to manage and scale their businesses with better-paying opportunities.
In 2023, Winnie expanded its search functionality to include alternative care types, such as au pairs and summer care. Parents can search for camp options in their area and access detailed information to make informed decisions.
Awards and recognition
Winnie received
Inc. magazine
''Inc.'' is an American business media company founded in 1979 and based in New York City. ''Inc.'' publishes several print magazine issues per year, and is anchored by journalistic content online and on social media, focused on entrepreneurship a ...
's "Best Workplaces" award in both 2022 and 2021.
In 2023, Winnie ranked #177 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. and secured the #1 spot in the Consumer Services category and #34 in California.
In 2024, Winnie was named a key company in the childcare industry by Grand View Research.
Services
The Winnie app contains data about child care providers including descriptions, photos, tuition information, licensing status, and availability data.
Parents also use Winnie to ask questions and share their experiences.
References
{{reflist
Further reading
Forbes - May 2020 - Interview With Melinda Gates: How Revolutionizing Our Caretaking System Is ‘The Key To Reopening The Economy’Parents - May 2018 - This Is the Only App You Need to Find Quality Child Care & Kid-Friendly Places All Over the CountryTechCrunch - October 2016 - Winnie grabs $2.5 million for its directory of family-friendly placesBloomberg - June 2016 - Interview on Bloomberg West: Meet Winnie
External links
Official Website
American review websites
Geosocial networking
Parenting websites
Consumer guides
IOS software
Internet properties established in 2016
Proprietary cross-platform software
Online companies of the United States
Recommender systems