Famtech - Family Technology - Fast Growing Market

The image of a successful American family with children has become ingrained as an ideal thanks to relentless marketing and Hollywood glamorization. The picture usually revolves around a beautiful home. But of course there is also a lavish but balanced family meal and lifestyle with vacations, birthdays, family visits, soccer teams, music lessons... the list goes on and on and on.

While the so-called American Dream has its charm, maintaining it all tends to be tedious. And while tech startups have long been developing productivity tools for businesses, it's not as easy for family "systems" to find apps that fit their needs.

Entrepreneurs and startup investors are increasingly bridging this gap and forming a rapidly growing sector called famtech (family technology). Imagine digital tools that help you manage household chores, track what your kids are doing, find home services, and even free up some personal time.

Often founders create tools and applications that they wish they had.

“I think the impossible is being asked of the modern family these days,” said Yoki Matsuoka, founder and CEO Yohana, a Panasonic-backed startup offering professional services that help families manage or streamline routine tasks.

As a parent of four children and a former CTO at Nest, Matsuoka draws on his experience balancing family life and a demanding career. This is especially important for those who lack a local support network. Matsuoka believes that specialized technology can greatly alleviate the stress caused by daily family responsibilities.

Financial investments in the famtech segment are growing rapidly. Famtech offers a wide range of solutions from transportation services to childcare search platforms and to-do list apps.

For example, HopSkipDrive, a startup that provides verified drivers to transport children to school and various events.

Yumi, a supplier of organic food for babies and toddlers, is another fun family-friendly service. The company focused on saving time through online meal planning and direct delivery.

Another fast growing startup - Otter. The startup was created two years ago. Its platform allows, on the one hand, to provide childcare services, and on the other hand, it provides parents with a search for such people. The company has received $30.8 million in funding to date, with venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz as its lead investors.

Startup Littlebird https://www.littlebird.care is developing a bracelet for children from one to five years old that tracks their location and well-being. The bracelet is linked to an app for parents that gives them the ability to see what's going on with their children.

Despite the high demand from parents for services that make their lives easier, the creation of a market for family technology may entail changing some of our ideas about how and where we can get help. The patriarchal way of life with saving grandparents and good neighbors is quickly disappearing into oblivion and more and more families are forced to rely only on their own strength.

Many working parents have little or no family support network, let alone neighbors who can share childcare and household chores with them.

For many families, the option of obtaining paid services to help with everyday tasks such as making doctor's appointments, hiring a plumber or organizing a birthday party is the most preferred option and a pressing need. Famtech - Family technology promises what everyone needs more than anything else: a little more free time and less everyday stress and worry. As this market matures, it will become clear whether the solutions being developed by startups can provide all this, and if so, whether consumers are willing to pay for them.