CareGuide acquires CanadianNanny.ca

Toronto-based CareGuide has acquired Vancouver, BC-based CanadianNanny.ca for an undisclosed sum. This acquisition comes fresh on the heels of CareGuide's latest  $5.5 million round of funding from the largest seed investment group in Canadian history.

 Until robot nannies are perfected, you would think there’s little technology has to offer when it comes to helping Canadians with their caregiving needs. But you would be wrong. Tech startup CareGuide has made its mission to pair households with great caregivers; now, with the acquisition of category-leader CanadianNanny.ca, CareGuide is a giant step closer to fulfilling its goal.

CareGuide, a portfolio of websites that assists households with finding caregivers for children, seniors, pets, and homes, burst onto the national business stage in 2014, raising $5.5M in capital from the largest seed investor group in Canadian history. With nearly all of its customers in the United States, this new acquisition further positions CareGuide to be the top source for care on both sides of the border.

“CanadianNanny.ca is the most popular nanny matching service in Canada, built with love over 13 years by an outstanding entrepreneur,” says John Phillip Green, Chief Executive Dad of CareGuide. “Just as over 60,000 Canadian parents have done, my wife and I used CanadianNanny.ca to hire a full time nanny  when our son was born. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the founder, Martha, and her team to build on their success.”

It was this success that sparked the idea for CareGuide. Around the same time, in addition to his childcare needs, Green found himself in need of a caregiver for an ailing parent and a housekeeper for his first home. Aside from the nanny, Green found it difficult to source other caregivers through the usual word-of-mouth strategy or classified ads. Appreciating the need for easy-to-find and purpose-built meeting places, he founded CareGuide to build dedicated sites for every type of care one would need. 

CanadianNanny.ca has a similar back-story; founder Martha Scully was on maternity leave with a baby and a three-year-old, and no family around to help out. Not comfortable leaving the baby with the teenager next door, she began seeking a qualified babysitter, but found agencies only placed full-time nannies. Seeing a gap in the market, Scully--who funded her own ECE degree with babysitting money--started CanadianNanny.ca with an initial investment of $17K to develop the site. The site was profitable in the very first year and has maintained profitability since. In that time, she has helped many people, from Olympians and NHL Hockey Players to Hollywood actors, find caregivers.

“I have been approached by many different companies, but most of them were American,” says Scully, founder of CanadianNanny.ca. “Although there were some tempting offers, it never felt right to have CanadianNanny.ca no longer owned and operated by Canadians.”

CareGuide will continue to service its predominantly US base while CanadianNanny.ca will continue to be the premier source for finding caregivers in Canada. With the acquisition, Scully will remain an integral part of the business, running west-coast operations from the Nanaimo, British Columbia office, with headquarters remaining in Toronto, Ontario. CanadianNanny.ca customers will continue to enjoy.

the same service and functionality they expect, with a newly-enhanced website. For more information, or to find a care provider, visit CareGuide.com.