Led · Equity · Apr 2026

Sniffies offers a real-time, map-based experience that prioritizes proximity and intent to help men discover and connect with other men. The platform has grown into a broader cultural presence that includes apparel, global events, and original content such as the Cruising Confessions podcast. Sniffies reported an estimated 3 million monthly active users and over 20 million messages sent daily. Following the investment, the company will remain founder-led and operate independently. Management plans to use capital to accelerate product development, expand the network, and invest in Trust & Safety. No revenue figures or prior funding rounds were disclosed in the announcement.

Participated · Series B · Feb 2014

UrbanSitter is an online and mobile (iOS and Android) service that enables parents and childcare providers to connect through the people they know and other trusted sources. The platform lets parents search, book and review sitters within minutes. Led by CEO and co-founder Lynn Perkins and launched in 2011, the company is based in San Francisco. UrbanSitter has expanded to serve more than 500,000 members in 65 cities and has facilitated over 450,000 babysitting jobs. The company has raised $40m in total financing to date, including a $17m Series C. It plans to use the new capital to expand into additional U.S. cities — including Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Portland and Sacramento — and to introduce features for finding, screening and booking recurring caregivers such as nannies. UrbanSitter operates an online and mobile marketplace that helps parents find and book trusted babysitters by leveraging social connections. The platform uses Facebook Connect to show how parents and sitters are connected and displays sitter reviews, skills, certifications, experience, photos, video, availability, hourly rates and response times. UrbanSitter facilitates real-time booking and payment through its service. The company emphasizes social trust and convenience as its core differentiators. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company is led by CEO Lynn Perkins and was founded by a group of internet veterans. Financially, the company has raised multiple rounds and recently reported a $15M Series B prior to the latest investment, bringing total funding to $22.95M. UrbanSitter is an online parent-sitter marketplace that leverages social recommendations to help parents find trusted childcare. The platform uses Facebook Connect so parents can see sitters known and recommended by friends and by affiliations such as schools and parent groups. Profiles display reviews, skills, certifications, education, response times, number of repeat families, photos and video, hourly rates and availability. Parents can search by date and time and book sitters or interviews in real time, and the platform manages payments and post-job reviews. UrbanSitter offers mobile apps and is available in a dozen U.S. cities. The company has raised $15 million in a Series B round to continue scaling in its market, where competitors such as Care.com indicate a large opportunity. UrbanSitter operates an online marketplace that lets parents find, book and pay sitters, using Facebook Connect so parents can see sitters recommended by friends and affiliations. The platform supports search by availability and filters (part-time, full-time, etc.), enables real-time booking or interviews, and collects reviews, ratings and Facebook Likes on sitter profiles. UrbanSitter launched in San Francisco in September 2011 and has expanded to about a dozen cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Seattle and Denver. The company also released an iOS app to allow parents and sitters to connect and book jobs on the go. Since launch, sitter bookings have grown at an average rate of 35% per month. The company plans to use new funding for product development, to advance mobile efforts and to expand into new markets. UrbanSitter operates a time-specific babysitter-booking marketplace that requires users to sign in via Facebook and surfaces sitter connections through the Facebook social graph. The product is built around searching and booking sitters by availability, analogous to booking a restaurant reservation. The company was founded in 2010, is headquartered in San Francisco, and launched officially in August 2011. As of the article, UrbanSitter had about 2,000 sitters and roughly 3,000 parents on the platform. The team is targeting sitters—especially in college towns—and encourages sitters to solicit recommendations that then alert parents to the service. The company planned to begin charging parents in about six weeks, though the fee amount was not yet decided.