Match.com Co-founder Raises $1.3 Million for Baby Gear Rental Company

A co-founder of Match.com, Fran Maier, has raised $1.3 million in a seed round to grow her baby gear rental company, ‘Babierge’.

The service allows families to rent cots, car seats, pushchairs, highchairs, and toys on their travels, rather than packing them.

Over 8,000 families in 170 North American destinations have used Babierge so far.

The company works with trusted and vetted local partners, and does not own any of the gear itself.

“The idea is to empower moms, grandparents, and other interested individuals to launch their own baby gear rental business,” Maier told VentureBeat. “On average, these trusted partners earn between $600 and $800 in extra monthly income.”

“In some way, Match.com has given birth to Babierge,” said Maier. “I went from matching and marriages to babies!”

Investors in Babierge include Startup Capital Ventures, Quake Capital, Rostrum Capital, the GWC Innovator Fund, and Stanford’s StartX Fund.

It has raised over $1.7 million in total to date, and will graduate from the Quake Capital accelerator program next week.

The startup currently has seven employees.

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