Care.com
An online two-sided marketplace connecting families and organizations with caregivers and care-related services.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Care.com is a care-services marketplace that helps families search for, evaluate, contact, and in some cases book caregivers and household service providers. Its coverage includes childcare, babysitting, nannies, senior care, care for people with special needs, housekeeping, tutoring, pet care, and other forms of household assistance. The platform is two-sided: families and other care seekers can look for providers, while caregivers can create profiles and search for employment opportunities. The business was founded by Sheila Lirio Marcelo after her own difficulty arranging care for children and aging parents. Marcelo developed the concept around the idea that care could be organized through a searchable digital network rather than solely through personal referrals or traditional agencies. Care.com initially concentrated heavily on childcare and family-care matching, but its service scope broadened over time to include eldercare, special-needs support, tutoring, pet services, housekeeping, and home-help categories. Care.com has offered basic and premium membership options for families, with paid features intended to improve access to listings and communication. The platform has also supported on-demand caregiver booking in some markets and circumstances. For caregivers, the marketplace functions as a source of job leads and employment opportunities. Because the company operates in a category involving children, older adults, and other vulnerable people, screening, verification, listing accuracy, and trust-and-safety processes have been central to its value proposition and a recurring source of public scrutiny. The company expanded outside the United States during the early 2010s. It launched in the United Kingdom and Canada in 2012 and acquired Berlin-based Betreut.de, giving it access to a wider European footprint. Care.com also developed an enterprise business, Care for Business, which provides employers with caregiving benefits and support intended to help employees manage childcare and other family-care responsibilities. Reported enterprise customers have included Google, Facebook, Starbucks, and Best Buy. Care.com raised substantial venture funding before entering the public markets. It completed an initial public offering in January 2014 under the symbol CRCM, becoming one of the first Boston venture-backed technology companies to go public in nearly two years at that time. The company was later acquired by IAC for approximately $500 million. The transaction closed on February 11, 2020, and Care.com ceased to be publicly traded. IAC executive Tim Allen became chief executive as part of the ownership transition; Brad E. Wilson was identified as CEO by June 2023. The brand has faced criticism and regulatory attention concerning the accuracy of provider listings, background-check practices, caregiver job claims, payment-rate representations, and membership cancellation. In 2019, reporting that some childcare providers were presented as licensed despite not being licensed led Care.com to remove certain automatically created and unclaimed listings and strengthen screening procedures. In 2024, the company agreed to an $8.5 million Federal Trade Commission settlement and refund program concerning alleged deception of caregivers and difficulties families experienced when canceling memberships, while stating that the settlement did not validate the FTC's allegations. In June 2025, Care.com announced a refreshed identity and additional tools reflecting a broader positioning beyond childcare. The updated direction emphasized senior care, pet care, home help, and camp searches alongside childcare. The change represents an effort to present Care.com as a general care platform rather than a service focused primarily on finding babysitters and nannies.
History
Care.com emerged from Sheila Lirio Marcelo's personal difficulty finding dependable care for both children and aging parents. Rather than treating childcare and household assistance as services available only through local agencies or informal referrals, Marcelo pursued a searchable online marketplace connecting families with individual providers. The company was founded in 2007 and received a $3.5 million Series A round from Matrix Partners, with Reid Hoffman participating. The financing helped establish the platform as a venture-backed technology company in the growing online-services sector. The marketplace was designed to serve both sides of the care relationship. Families could search for nannies, babysitters, senior-care providers, tutors, housekeepers, pet-care providers, and other helpers. Caregivers could create profiles and look for work. Care.com used basic and premium membership structures for families and later supported on-demand booking in relevant categories. The platform's breadth became an important part of its identity, but it also created operational challenges because care quality, licensing, identity, and suitability vary significantly across providers and jurisdictions. The company's founding was accompanied by a dispute over the origins of its business concept. Before launching Care.com, Marcelo was an entrepreneur in residence at Matrix Partners and, with Matrix partner Nick Beim, met with founders of Sittercity.com and Sitters.com. The meetings were reportedly connected to possible investment and a potential executive role. Sitters.com founder Mike Cravens later alleged that information learned during those discussions was used to help launch Care.com. Media reports cited correspondence in which Marcelo had previously indicated that she did not intend to start a competing company. Matrix denied that the company had been treated unfairly. The dispute remained a point of controversy around Care.com's formation, although the available reference material does not establish a legal finding of wrongdoing. Care.com expanded internationally in 2012 by launching in the United Kingdom and Canada. Its acquisition of Berlin-based Betreut.de extended the business into a broader set of Western European markets. The company also experimented with adjacent digital products, including the Karoo app, which received a Webby Award in 2013 in a social handheld-devices category before later being withdrawn. During this period, Care.com continued to build its consumer marketplace while developing research and content intended to make care costs more understandable. Beginning in 2013, its annual Cost of Care report tracked childcare expenses and discussed strategies families could use to manage those costs. In late 2013, Care.com filed for an initial public offering. Before the offering, it had raised $111 million from investors including Matrix Partners, Trinity Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, USAA, and Institutional Venture Partners. The IPO was priced in January 2014, and the company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under CRCM. Its market debut followed a period of rapid expansion in online marketplaces and made Care.com one of the first Boston venture-backed technology companies to become public in nearly two years. Trust and safety became a continuing issue as the platform grew. In 2015, reporting described a family that said it had been defrauded by a nanny who had passed the site's screening process, alongside other cases in which families sued Care.com over alleged negligence in background checks. In 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that the site sometimes represented daycare providers as licensed even when they were not. Care.com responded by eliminating automatically generated childcare listings that had never been claimed by facility owners and by strengthening member-screening processes. These events highlighted the distinction between a marketplace's screening tools and the independent responsibility of families and providers to verify qualifications and suitability. IAC announced an agreement to acquire Care.com in December 2019. The approximately $500 million transaction closed on February 11, 2020, ending Care.com's period as a public company. Tim Allen, an IAC executive, became CEO in connection with the acquisition. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Care.com worked with public agencies and nonprofit organizations to help frontline workers find family care. By June 2023, Brad E. Wilson was identified as the company's CEO. The company faced another major regulatory episode in 2024. The Federal Trade Commission alleged that Care.com misled caregivers about the number of jobs available and the rates they could earn, and that it made membership cancellation difficult for families. Care.com agreed to an $8.5 million refund program and settlement while emphasizing that it disputed the allegations and would otherwise have been prepared for prolonged litigation. In June 2025, the company announced a new identity and tools designed to signal a wider range of services. The repositioning placed senior care, pet care, home help, and camp searches alongside the company's established childcare offering, presenting Care.com as a broader care platform.
- 2025
Broader brand identity
[1]Care.com announced a new identity and tools reflecting expansion beyond childcare into senior care, pet care, home help, and camp searches.
- 2024
FTC refund settlement
[2]Care.com agreed to an $8.5 million refund and settlement concerning FTC allegations about caregiver job claims and membership cancellation.
- 2020
Acquisition closes
[1]IAC completed its acquisition on February 11, 2020, and Care.com ceased trading publicly.
- 2019
IAC agrees to acquire Care.com
[1]IAC announced an approximately $500 million acquisition that would take Care.com private.
- 2014
NYSE listing
[1]Care.com went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRCM.
- 2013
Karoo receives a Webby Award
[1]Care.com's Karoo app received a Webby Award in a social handheld-devices category; the app was later withdrawn.
- 2013
Initial public offering filing
[1]Care.com filed for an IPO after raising $111 million in reported venture funding.
- 2012
International expansion
[1]The company launched in the United Kingdom and Canada and acquired Betreut.de in Berlin, expanding its European footprint.
- 2007
Care.com is founded
[1]Sheila Lirio Marcelo founded the online care marketplace after experiencing difficulty arranging care for children and aging parents.
- 2007
Series A financing
[1]Care.com raised $3.5 million in Series A financing from Matrix Partners, with Reid Hoffman participating.
Products and positioning
A broad digital marketplace and care-benefits platform intended to make family care easier to discover, compare, arrange, and manage.
Online marketplace · 2007
Family care marketplace
The core Care.com marketplace lets families search for and contact providers across childcare, babysitting, nanny services, senior care, special-needs care, tutoring, housekeeping, pet care, and related household categories. Family accounts have included basic and premium membership options, with features varying by service and market.
Employment marketplace · 2007
Caregiver marketplace
Care.com also serves caregivers by allowing them to create profiles, present experience and qualifications, respond to opportunities, and search for care-related work. The caregiver side is integral to the platform's two-sided-marketplace model.
Employer benefits
Care for Business
Care for Business is the enterprise arm of Care.com. It provides employers with caregiving benefits and support intended to help employees find childcare and other forms of family care. Reported enterprise clients have included Google, Facebook, Starbucks, and Best Buy.
Research and content · 2013
Cost of Care
Cost of Care is an annual proprietary research publication covering childcare costs in the United States and discussing ways families may manage or reduce care expenses. Care.com has released the report since 2013.
Mobile application · 2013
Karoo
Karoo was a Care.com app that received a Webby Award in a social handheld-devices category in 2013. The application was subsequently withdrawn and is not treated as a current core offering.
Controversies
2024
Federal Trade Commission settlement over marketplace and cancellation claims
The FTC alleged that Care.com deceived caregivers about the number of available jobs and potential payment rates and made it difficult for families to cancel memberships. Care.com agreed to an $8.5 million refund settlement while disputing the allegations and stating that the agreement was not a validation of the FTC's claims.
2019
Questions about childcare licensing listings
Reporting stated that Care.com listed some daycare providers as licensed even though they were not. The company removed certain automatically created, unclaimed listings and said it would strengthen screening procedures.
2015
Concerns about background checks and caregiver screening
Reports described a family that said it had been defrauded by a nanny who had passed Care.com's screening process, along with lawsuits alleging that the company had been negligent in conducting background checks.
Marketing campaigns
- 2020COVID-19 frontline-worker care support
United States
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Care.com enabled states, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations to help frontline workers connect with care for their families.
Outcome. Supported public-sector and nonprofit care-access initiatives during the pandemic.
Brand decisions
2025
Expansion from childcare to broader careStrategyBackground
Care.com sought to reflect the breadth of services already associated with its marketplace rather than being identified mainly with childcare.
Action taken
The company announced a new identity and tools covering childcare, senior care, pet care, home help, and camp searches.
Aftermath
The repositioning presented Care.com as a broader caregiving platform.
2019
Agreement to be acquired by IACM&ABackground
IAC announced a plan to acquire Care.com after the company had operated as a public marketplace.
Action taken
IAC agreed to purchase Care.com for approximately $500 million.
Aftermath
The deal closed in February 2020 and Care.com was delisted.
Acquisition value. $500 million (Announced December 2019; completed February 11, 2020)
2019
Strengthening of listing and screening controlsStrategyBackground
Reporting raised questions about childcare providers being described as licensed when they were not.
Action taken
Care.com removed unverified automatically created childcare listings that had not been claimed by facility owners and said it would strengthen member-screening procedures.
Aftermath
The changes were intended to improve listing accuracy and trust on the marketplace.
2014
Public listing under CRCMOtherBackground
After raising $111 million in reported venture funding, Care.com pursued access to public capital markets.
Action taken
The company completed an IPO and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Aftermath
Care.com operated as a public company until its acquisition by IAC in 2020.
Reported pre-IPO venture funding. $111 million (Before the January 2014 IPO)
2012
Acquisition of Betreut.deM&ABackground
Care.com sought to extend its marketplace beyond the United States and entered additional European markets.
Action taken
The company acquired Berlin-based Betreut.de after launching in the United Kingdom and Canada.
Aftermath
The transaction gave Care.com a wider presence across Western Europe.
Recent events
Reported
Care.com appoints Ben Stahl as Managing Director of Care.com International[4]
Care.com announced Ben Stahl's appointment as Managing Director of Care.com International, which spans much of Western Europe, the UK, Canada, and Australia.
Reported
Tim Allen to succeed Care.com CEO Sheila Lirio Marcelo[5]
As part of the acquisition agreement, IAC executive Tim Allen was named to succeed Care.com founder, chairwoman and CEO Sheila Lirio Marcelo. The source describes a planned succession, not a completed appointment.
Reported
IAC announces agreement to acquire Care.com[5]
IAC and Care.com announced a definitive agreement for IAC to acquire Care.com for $15.00 per share in an all-cash transaction representing approximately $500 million in enterprise value.
Sources5 sources
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