More money for Sittercity

Online care-giving directory opens second round of funding to accomodate new investors

The cash keeps pouring in for Sittercity.  Today, the Chicago-based startup announced it has closed another round of equity financing from investors including Matt McCall of New World Ventures, Brian Hand co-founder of Timelines, and the I2A Fund.  The exact amount was not disclosed, but the Chicago Tribune is reporting $500,000.

Sittercity provides an online care-giving directory.  It helps users find babysitters, pet sitters, senior care, math tutors, and home sitters near them.  The site also offers a four-step screening process, free access to background checks, sitter profiles, and sitter video interviews.

Back in January of this year, the company raised $7.5 million from Point Judith Capital and Apex Venture Partners which has helped it grow to over a million caregiver profiles and hundeds of thousands of care seekers.  Genevieve Thiers, founder and CEO of Sittercity said, "Sittercity.com has increased job postings on its site 150 percent, added an average of 2,000 caregivers each day, and grown our annual revenue 60 percent over last year."

Sittercity runs a subscription-based business model, allowing caregivers to sign up for free and charging care seekers unlimited access for $8 per month.  Sittercity argues its pricing is substantially lower than the average $2,500 most agencies charge.  The average rate for a Sittercity babysitter is $13/hour.  Sittercity also offers a corporate program- some of its clients include Mastercard and Monster.

It looks like things are going fine and dandy for Sittercity, which was launched way back in 2001.  It was recently number 287 on Inc.'s Magazine list of the 500 fastest growing companies.  Sittercity said it opened the second round of funding in order to accommodate these new investors who obviously want a part of its rapid growth.