HopSkipDrive, Ridesharing Company for Kids, Doubles Fundraising

Ben Bergman

Ben Bergman is the newsroom's senior finance reporter. Previously he was a senior business reporter and host at KPCC, a senior producer at Gimlet Media, a producer at NPR's Morning Edition, and produced two investigative documentaries for KCET. He has been a frequent on-air contributor to business coverage on NPR and Marketplace and has written for The New York Times and Columbia Journalism Review. Ben was a 2017-2018 Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economic and Business Journalism at Columbia Business School. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, playing poker, and cheering on The Seattle Seahawks.

HopSkipDrive, Ridesharing Company for Kids, Doubles Fundraising

HopSkipDrive, the Los Angeles-based ridesharing company for kids, announced Tuesday it has raised an additional $22 million in funding to continue to fuel its expansion into new markets.

The company was founded in 2014 by three L.A. working moms wrestling with how to transport their overscheduled kids to and from school and all their soccer games and violin lessons. It now operates in 13 markets in eight states plus Washington D.C., up from five markets in two states a year ago.


"The capital will really help us expand to more markets and service as many kids as we can," co-founder and CEO Joanna McFarland told dot.LA in an interview Tuesday.

HopSkipDrive does not view Uber and Lyft as competitors because those services bar riders under 18 (though it is debatable how strictly that rule is enforced.) Riders can be as young as six on HopSkipDrive, and drivers have to pass a rigorous 15-point screening process.

McFarland said L.A. is still the company's number one market, but she is seeing strong growth in Denver, Seattle, Dallas, and Houston.

Most recently, HopSkipDrive entered Las Vegas last month and announced a partnership with Clark County Child Welfare Services. The company won't enter a market until it has such partnerships in place, which account for the "vast majority" of its revenue, according to McFarland. HopSkipDrive now has contracts with 200 schools, districts, and counties, including Los Angeles County, Seattle Public Schools, and Green Dot Public Schools.

Interestingly, 90% of drivers are female. The company did not set out for that to be the case but by virtue of requiring its drivers to have at least five years of experience as a child caregiver, it has ended up with few males.

For customers used to summoning rides in minutes on other apps after a few taps on a smartphone, one of HopSkipDrive's limitations has been a requirement that users have to book rides eight hours in advance. "We'll continue to narrow that gap - that booking window," McFarland said.

Cyrus Capital Partners, State Farm Ventures, Upfront Ventures, FirstMark Capital and Greycroft participated in the round, which doubles the company's fundraising total.

In November, HopSkipDrive relocated to a new headquarters in the ROW DTLA, where it has about 100 employees and is looking to add more.

"We're hiring," McFarland said. When asked what positions the company is looking to fill, she quickly replied: "Everything!"

https://twitter.com/thebenbergman
ben@dot.la

Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.

Office Hours: Apex Founder Ian Cinnamon on Why LA Is the Aerospace Capital of the World

Spencer Rascoff

Spencer Rascoff serves as executive chairman of dot.LA. He is an entrepreneur and company leader who co-founded Zillow, Hotwire, dot.LA, Pacaso and Supernova, and who served as Zillow's CEO for a decade. During Spencer's time as CEO, Zillow won dozens of "best places to work" awards as it grew to over 4,500 employees, $3 billion in revenue, and $10 billion in market capitalization. Prior to Zillow, Spencer co-founded and was VP Corporate Development of Hotwire, which was sold to Expedia for $685 million in 2003. Through his startup studio and venture capital firm, 75 & Sunny, Spencer is an active angel investor in over 100 companies and is incubating several more.

​Ian Cinnamon
Ian Cinnamon

On this episode of Office Hours, Apex founder and CEO Ian Cinnamon discusses the importance of investing in space exploration and shares his thoughts on the evolving space ecosystem in Los Angeles.


Read moreShow less
https://twitter.com/spencerrascoff
https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerrascoff/
admin@dot.la

This Week in ‘Raises’: Measurabl Snags $93M, Selva Ventures Grabs $34M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local data management platform company lands fresh funding to help commercial real estate owners reduce carbon footprint, while one Los Angeles-based venture firm closes its second fund to accelerate the growth of emerging companies across health, wellness, beauty and personal care.

***

Read moreShow less

McKinsey & Company Launches InLA Accelerator To Help Underrepresented Founders Tackle Startup Challenges

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

McKinsey & Company Launches InLA Accelerator To Help Underrepresented Founders Tackle Startup Challenges
InLA

In 2022, female founders saw a 28% decline in overall U.S. funding, while Black-led startups saw a 38% decline in total capital received. In an effort to increase funding for minority-led startups, global venture firm McKinsey & Company is launching InLA, an accelerator program for underrepresented founders.

“This effort is something that the firm has been really excited about for a long time,” Engagement Manager Elkhyn Rivas Rodriguez said. “There's obviously a meaningful and growing startup community out here and just from a diversity standpoint, LA is incredibly diverse and multi-ethnic and multicultural. So we think that there will be a really great pool of potential companies to partner with.”

Read moreShow less
RELATEDEDITOR'S PICKS
LA TECH JOBS
interchangeLA
Trending