With hasty handovers with carers at the start and end of the day rarely covering all of the essentials, let alone the kid’s developmental milestones, the transition back to work is challenging for both child and parent.
‘Onoco,’ a parenting app, now incorporates these crucial milestones, emergency protocols, and a consistent schedule into every day, giving parents peace of mind.
It was created by Margaret Zablocka, a parent of two under-fives, and is based on the government’s Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFS), which is a respected evidence base used by UK nurseries, pre-schools, and registered childminders to track a child’s progress through development areas and aspects of learning specified by experts – a total of 460 milestones. Onoco allows all caregivers to track milestones together, allowing them to give the kid the greatest possible start in life – which is critical given that 90% of the brain develops in the first five years of life.
Funding from Jenson Funding Partners
Further, the startup that helps in organising families via planning, documenting infant care and tracking development has now secured a £150,000 pre-seed funding round from Jenson Funding Partners.
The funding comes at a time when demand for parent tech has risen, with US companies receiving $1.4B in 2021 alone – more than the total amount invested in the previous four years.
As part of Onoco Premium, the pre-seed round will strengthen the existing product with an AI algorithm once completed. The AI will be able to analyse a baby’s patterns to predict when they’ll be tired, as well as provide a personalised timetable with helpful advice, the company said in a statement.
In addition to Margaret, new appointments will be made to expand the tech and marketing teams within the company, which is helmed by CTO Oskar Dylewski, a former Technical Lead at Palantir Technologies, and CMO Aida Bejgane, a former head of paid acquisition at Starling Bank.
“When I first became a mother, I discovered parent tech wasn’t adapted to my needs,” explains Margaret Zablocka, founder and CEO of Onoco. When I had my second kid, I wanted to use my expertise to create a solution to assist parents like me who have a busy schedule yet want to support their child’s growth on a daily basis. As a result, if parents need to exchange information with a midwife or other health or childcare providers, they will be able to do so.”
More than a baby tracker
Margaret created Onoco to incorporate a child’s important development pathways at all times, ensuring consistency for both parent and child – – as well as more productive handovers with caretakers, particularly those who do not have access to the EYFS Framework’s benefits. Onoco is more than a ‘baby tracker.’ It gives parents and caregivers access to all vital information.
“Every family is different — there are families with just one mother, families with two mothers or two fathers, families with two divorced parents, and families with grandparents who are strongly involved in a child’s upbringing.” We want Onoco to be that community. As the phrase goes, it takes a village to raise a child. We’re going to use AI in a unique way to improve our prediction tools, as well as family communication and baby development,” Margaret continued.
Margaret spent nine years working for various IT companies, including Paddy Power, designing complex digital products such as financial trading systems, sports betting apps, and content management solutions, before founding Onoco in January 2020.
“We’re happy to be leading the investment in Onoco,” said Jeffrey Faustin, CIO at Jenson Funding Partners. Margaret is aiming to make a significant change in how society views childcare and the duties and responsibilities of carers in each household. As indicated by the increased interest in the parent tech sector, we’re pleased to be a part of it with such a forward-thinking company.”
