As a working parent, finding the right childcare for your little one is hard. It is even more of a struggle to find a carer that suits your own schedule and needs. A new app called bubble is now changing the game, and a former Made in Chelsea stare is choosing to bet her money on it.
Binky Felstead, who stared in all 18 series of Made in Chelsea, has now made her first investment in tech and parenting app bubble, a service which connects parents with trusted childcare professionals.
As a single mother, Binky has herself relied on the app to find babysitters for her two-year-old daughter, India, describing it as a “saviour” for working mothers.
Voted as Apple’s as “App of the Year”, bubble is a marketplace for trusted baby sitters and carers recommended in the community – and parents are now given the flexibility of choice and control when it comes to choosing one.
Child carers are thoroughly vetted with identity and background checks before they are allowed on to the app and each sitter is given a rating based on their previous sits.
With over 100,000 members on the app, every sit is tracked and is covered by a £1million public liability insurance, ensuring each child is safely cared for.
Parents can book a babysitter in as little as 30 minutes notice, allowing them to attend a pop-up work meeting or last-minute dinner plans on any occasion.
Around 40% of sits on the app are booked during the daytime and 35% are booked within 48 hours’ notice, according to recent statistics from bubble.
Binky, who was previously a bubble ambassador, will now join the investors’ chair along with other big names including the founders of Boohoo.com, Betfair and Photobox.
The reality TV star is no stranger to entrepreneurship – she founded online website and event company Mummy Tribe, which connecting mothers throughout all stages of motherhood.
Binky has praised bubble app for always being reliable whenever she needed a helping hand, especially as a first-time mother.
“Being a single and working parent can be quite overwhelming sometimes. Motherhood isn’t easy and it’s invaluable to know that trusted help is always an option,” Binky said.
“I first started using bubble because I realised, I couldn’t do everything on my own and needed a helping hand. I’ve always been interested in investing and knowing bubble so well; it was a no brainer to back a company I love.”
Binky praised the app for being a babysitting service that parents can “trust”, as all sitters are recommended by friends and parents within the community.
“Organising childcare is so stressful and not having it is a major problem. We all want to find amazing people to look after our kids, people that our friends and other parents trust. bubble makes it so easy to do that. It makes things quick and convenient, but it doesn’t compromise on that need for us to find someone wonderful who we and our kids will love,” she said.
Binky loves the fact you can speak to your babysitter before-hand to ensure they’re a right fit for you and your child. “The app gives you complete control over who you want to book and you can always chat or meet your sitter before having them introduced to your child, she added. “I honestly can’t recommend it enough!”
Motherhood requires a lot of adjustment, and having a trusted babysitting service has been a real lifesaver for Binky especially when she needed that little bit of extra time for herself.
“When you become a parent it suddenly hits you what an adjustment it is and you think you won’t be able to do anything else anymore other than be a mum,” she said. “So having easy access to amazing childcare has really been a lifesaver since having India.”
“Bubble has helped me realise I could still be me at the same time as being a parent to my daughter. It has helped me claim some time back for myself, as well as crack on with work, go to the gym, tidy up my home – whatever I need to do, really. It’s also been great for India, she’s socialising and meeting new people, which is wonderful to see.”
The app gives you complete control over who you want to book and you can always chat or meet your sitter before having them introduced to your child. I honestly can’t recommend it enough!
Ari Last, father-of-three and bubble Founder, express his excitement at having Binky onboard the bubble team, saying, “We’re so happy to have Binky join our team of investors. She has been a power-user since early on so she knows the value of our service to parents. Like the thousands of parents in our community, Binky is smart, loving, hard-working and ambitious – and we set bubble up to support and enable mums and dads like her. We’re so excited to have her on board.”
Parents can use the app for social, work purposes, and in any unexpected situations – making it a handy tool in case any emergency arises.
