On the heels of our product launch at TechCrunch Disrupt, we are excited to announce today that MotherKnows.com completed our seed round funding of $1.7M. MotherKnows.com, which was developed to remove the pain of managing kids’ health records, was founded by Hesky Kutscher and Greg Goff late last fall, who were joined soon after by Mohammad Shahangian to direct the technical development of the site. MotherKnows has built a web product and mobile app that will help parents take control of their children’s health management. Our funders bring much more than money to the table, each is a great source of wisdom as we build a disruptive product in the promising mega market of consumer health.
The MotherKnows Backers
The team backing MotherKnows.com represents some of the most experienced folks in the consumer web, and as such, gives us a huge leg up as we look to tackle the opportunity before us. The manner in which each became engaged is as varied as the players themselves:
First Round Capital / Josh Kopelman –A coincidental crossing of paths between co-founder Hesky Kutscher and Josh through a mutual friend turned into a dinner in NY City with Josh and his team. The dinner resulted in love at first sight. The FRC partners got the vision quickly, and moved at lightning speed. Since then, Josh and the FRC group have been instrumental in helping us get our efforts to the next level. We are very proud to be a member of the FRC family.
Giza Ventures – Giza is our “Israeli Connection”. The Giza team is always on the lookout for big ideas founded by Israelis, particularly if they are playing in big markets. Consumer health in the USA is as big as markets get, and Hesky is as Israeli as they come. Match made in heaven.
The Band Of Angels – All good funding stories should include a party at some point. Co-founder Greg Goff and Band of Angels lead, Chris Meyer, met over drinks at a Christmas party of a mutual friend. After an engaging discussion over the secrets of SEO and the merits of parents logging full diapers in files of poop trackers: We were set to be run through the gauntlet that the Band calls its “process”. Thanks to Chris’ tireless support, we were one of the lucky few to walk out with a check.
Charles River Ventures/ Saar Gur – When it’s right, it’s right. Saar heard the idea for MotherKnows.com just once, and was in the next day. Saar takes the award for decisive action in our support. Saar is a smart , creative thinker with great ideas an advice.
Steve Berger. An introduction through mutual acquaintances gave us the opportunity to pitch the unlikely investor of Steve Berger. From a coffee shop in Berkeley where we learned our name might be too republican (??), we bonded instantly with Steve. Steve brings the true genes of an entrepreneur to the team and along with Chris Meyer from the Band, has raised his hand to provide personal guidance.
Maneesh Arora- Maneesh promised himself after his experience at Google health that he would stay away from online health forever. However, after a 2 hour meeting with us, he decided to roll up his sleeves and help MotherKnows succeed where the mighty Google couldn’t.
The Rest- Old business partners such as the great Seattle Entrepreneur, Andy Liu, and Mike Raskin, Hesky’s favorite consigliore, signed on after a quick presentation. Lauren Selig’s passion for our mission has been awesome and David Perla one of the smartest NY entrepreneurs helped round up his friends to invest.
Personal friends, family, acquaintances and referrals brought in a number of additional investors, while we cannot mention them all here, their contributions are all appreciated.
Finally a special recognition to all who have helped bring MotherKnows to where it is today- most notably our technical lead, Mohammad Shahangian, and the team that has supported him, as well as Francisco Guerrero and Johanna Silva who have joined the team recently to build marketing efforts and support for parents and physicians.
Sharing the love
We want to thank all of you who have shown love to our mission and our product. The receptivity in the market has been amazing, mainly due to the fact that we are solving a big pain for lots of caring parents.
So what’s next?
We are now in our closed Beta making sure that our product exceeds customer expectations. This will be followed by a wide consumer launch later this summer. We are getting ready to announce some major marketing partnerships that will help accelerate our efforts to reach parents. Furthermore we are expanding the team to accelerate the pace of product development.
Anything new coming from MotherKnows.com?
Finally be on the lookout for our i-phone app coming very soon to provide access to health records for children anywhere, anytime they are needed. We look forward to announcing more in the coming months.
Best,
Hesky and Greg
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An excellent conversation today with Hesky Kutscher. Without realizing it, I must have channeled one of my many great ‘idea-wishes’ to Silicon Valley. Thank you so much for bringing this idea not only to life, but to the market. It would be my pleasure and a real privilege to have every mother I know as a subscriber.
The mother in today’s market is as different as the child in today’s pediatric practice. Infants are not toddlers who (thank God!) are not yet teens, but the mother’s I know are ready to take increasing responsibilty for her child’s health story. Mom’s know that it’s important to be able to tell her child’s health story (that’s my name for the relavant medical history parents are creating with all those doctor visits.) Your company can put it together once for a family. You can teach parents the many reasons to keep the records current, and help them accomplish that goal a few times each year.
When you are successful, you will have made a huge contribution to the next generation of health care consumers. It’s probably too late for my elderly Aunt Marge to keep track of all her medical history, but I’d like to think my children will be up for the task when they reach eighteen. It’s my responsibility to begin teaching them now…by example!
My only request….stay focused. Don’t branch to adults and the elderly in the same company because the children will become orphans. Keep evolving to improve what you are exclusively providing for kids and include the ability to evolve for the many facets of a changing medical landscape. Allow your software to include their digital ultrasound at 20 weeks gestation, then an X-ray of a broken ankle at age 8, then the child’s complete genome when it’s sequenced at age 12. Whatever the future will hold.
Yes…make my child’s health story one of growth and development, too. Make it the next-gen of baby books where I can upload a picture of my daughter’s first shoes, her first words, the day we had a bonfire with the potty chair we no longer needed. Make this relevant in a medical way, make it cherished in a mom-sort-of-way.
And when you’re looking for more feedback, just ask us moms. We always have an opinion about what makes for good medical care, good medical tools when it comes to our children. By all means, charge a fee, make a good profit, but remember…you are creating value at the leading edge of what is shaping the health care field. Don’t just do it for the money.
Best of luck to you all. As you continue to serve the children’s needs, you will have no finer reward than that of knowing you are shaping the future.
Healthies regards,
Gayle Smith, MD
Partners In Pediatrics, PC