Ms. Bissuel has been using a virtual childcare service launched by Toronto-based HELM Life in mid-March. Canadian Nanny, a company that pairs families with nannies and babysitters, also introduced a similar service around the same time.

CIBC Innovation Banking is pleased to announce it recently closed a US$2 million growth capital financing with Toronto-based CareGuide, a popular online care services company that helps connect millions of caregivers across North America with families who need child care, pet care, elder care and home-care services. The company also provides payroll services, including direct deposit, electronic paystubs and receipts, tax deductions and tax form filing for professionals in these fields.

Toronto-based Nanny Lane began rolling its matchmaking service out earlier this year and is among a portfolio of sites operated under CareGuide. The company recently raised $6 million in new equity to double its staff to 80 in the next year. John Philip Green, who calls himself the “chief executive dad” of CareGuide, says he could foresee the site bringing the sharing economy to child care.

“Toronto’s CareGuide is known for making its own road. The care marketplace startup, which has a portfolio of sites like Sitter.com and Housekeeper.com, has taken a unique approach to fundraising and growth: predominantly raising $4 million in seed funding from over 70 angel investors, and convincing RBC to supply $1 million in debt financing to gobble up the competitor which inspired its business. Today, CareGuide announced a strategic investment in Moncton-based Qimple.”

“The C100 recently announced the names of Canadian startups selected to participate in the next 48 Hours in the Valley, the organization’s flagship program. On December 7-9 2015, participating companies will engage in 2.5 days of programming, mentorship and networking in Silicon Valley. The 17 selected startups, which join some 200 alumni companies supported by C100 programs over the past five years, are: BONE Structure, CareGuide, Community Sift, CrowdRiff, Flatbook, Foko, Graphite Software, LoginRadius, MappedIn, PostBeyond, Roadmunk, Sensibill, Sharethebus, Statflo, Storybird, ThinkData Works and Vantage.”

“CareGuide has acquired CanadianNanny, the country's most popular nanny matching service.”

“CareGuide is an online portal that owns a portfolio of other websites dedicated to matching various caregivers, such as babysitters or elder-care providers, with families. The company secured $5.5-million in capital last year from Canadian investors, a signal of just how large and still underserved caregiving needs are in Canada.”

“Toronto's CareGuide, the company behind the care matchmaking services Sitter.com, Housekeeper.com, PetSitter.com, ElderCare.com, and HouseSitter.com, announced today that it has raised an additional $2.5 million in equity and debt financing in a second close of its seed round.”

“When a group of entrepreneurs of this caliber coalesces around a unique opportunity, it’s usually a good one. Of course, we’ve already seen the evidence first hand – and the numbers don’t lie. We are very pleased that John has given us the chance to invest further into his vision, and look forward to watching him lead CareGuide into another phase of remarkable growth.”

“This felt different,” said Sharwood, reflecting on the decision to invest. “It felt like it had a lot of legs. I said ‘let me help you put your forecast together,’ and it went up from there. It was good, smart people when I looked under the hood.”

“The TechVibes 20 is a bi-monthly list of the hottest and most promising tech startups across Canada. The list is carefully curated by TechVibes editorial staff and reflects who's making waves in our nation's tech ecosystem right now.”

“The Toronto startup has enjoyed double-digit monthly traffic and revenue growth since it launched its portfolio or sites two years ago.”