SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.,
March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --
BabyQuip (https://www.babyquip.com), the world's leading
mom-powered baby gear rental service, today announced the
acquisition of Tot Squad's baby gear cleaning and
repair services for an undisclosed sum. Rebranded as
BabyQuip Cleaning Services, this critical service is
available immediately in Los
Angeles and Washington, DC.
BabyQuip will also be taking over Tot Squad's partnership with Uber
(NYSE: UBER), providing thoroughly clean and sanitized car seats to
families in NYC. In the coming weeks, BabyQuip will train its
network of over 600+ Quality Providers to provide the new cleaning
services to families, expanding to the company's other 500+
destinations throughout the US and Canada. For more details on BabyQuip's new
cleaning and repair offerings, please visit babyquip.com/cleaning.
Tot Squad will now focus on virtual and in-person services
like lactation support and sleep consulting, as well as
continuing with car seat installations.
"BabyQuip is already thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing car
seats, strollers, cribs, and other baby equipment for
traveling families. In fact, 99% of our customers rate our
gear as spotless or exceptionally clean." said Fran Maier,
BabyQuip Founder and CEO. "Especially now, given the heightened
concern due to COVID-19, our community of Quality Providers will
soon provide these cleaning services to local parents concerned
about the gear they already own."
"We're so thrilled to pass the baton to BabyQuip as they add our
cleaning expertise into their successful rental model, while Tot
Squad embarks on expansion in a new direction," said Jen Saxton, Founder and CEO of Tot Squad.
BabyQuip will continue partnerships with many other
organizations to ensure clean and safe car seats. Dr.
Helen Arbogast, of the Children's
Hospital of LA said, "CHLA has partnered with Tot Squad to ensure
our loaner car seats provided to some of our most medically
vulnerable patients at discharge are sanitized and safe. We look
forward to continuing this relationship with the team at
BabyQuip!"
Research by noted expert Dr. Charles
Gerba, Professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the
University of Arizona, shows that
automobiles with children have 147% more bacteria. Dr. Gerba adds,
"This result is in part due to unclean car seats. We advise
thorough cleaning of car seats on a regular basis."
BabyQuip has rented baby gear to over 40,000 traveling
families visiting more than 500 destinations across the US and
Canada. BabyQuip helps families
"Pack Light and Travel Happy' by delivering exceptionally clean,
safe and insured baby gear (from full size cribs and
strollers to toys and car seats) to hotels, vacation
rentals and private residences. As a managed marketplace, the
BabyQuip platform enables on-the-ground, "Quality Providers," who
are independent contractors, to build a solid business renting gear
that they own. Mostly moms, the Quality Providers benefit from an
active and supportive community, ongoing training regarding product
safety and cleanliness, and leads generated from both online
advertising and through strategic partnerships.
BabyQuip was featured on ABC's "Shark Tank" on
March 6, where BabyQuip's CEO,
Fran Maier, turned down a proposed
$500,000 investment from "Mr.
Wonderful," Kevin O'Leary.
That same week, the company closed a $850k seed
round from nearly 100 individual investors on SeedInvest, the
equity crowdfunding platform, and from current investors in the
company. BabyQuip will use the funding to expand the business into
new markets, enter into new partnerships, and expand into new
services.
About BabyQuip
Founded in May 2016, BabyQuip is the world's leading baby
gear rental service, delivering thousands of clean, quality
baby gear items to families who don't want to haul bulky gear while
traveling throughout the US and Canada. The platform will soon enable
gig-economy moms and others the opportunity to clean baby gear on
behalf of families. Strategic BabyQuip partnerships include
Destination Hotels (a Hyatt brand), Guesty,
HomeAway, and UrbanSitter. For additional details on
BabyQuip, including a list of Quality Providers, please visit
babyquip.com. Follow the company on Instagram, Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube.
About the new Tot Squad
TotSquad.com is a curated marketplace that connects new parents
with services, delivered via video-chat & in-person. From
pregnancy to the playground, Tot Squad's mission is to improve
access to services like sleep & lactation consulting, car seat
installation & babyproofing. Founded in 2010 by Founder &
CEO Jennifer Beall Saxton, the
company has served nearly 100,000 families. For more info, visit
TotSquad.com or follow us @TotSquad.
BabyQuip Press Contact:
Bill Horn
Marque Communication
310.739.1023
236924@email4pr.com
Tot Squad Press Contact:
Lindsey Rosenberg
236924@email4pr.com
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SOURCE BabyQuip, Inc.