Parents, this might just be the solution to your busy lifestyle and full schedule. Cubspot is a marketplace of camps, lessons, tutors, and activities for kids. Their all-in-one-place interface makes finding and managing all after-school activities and camps super simple for parents. We are so excited for their launch, so we were delighted to have the opportunity to learn more from Rachael Shayne, the CEO and co-founder of Cubspot.
What is Cubspot? How did the idea come to be?
Cubspot was borne out of parental frustration — commiserated among tech parents in Boulder who are in the startup community. Today’s process for finding, booking, and managing, camps and enrichment activities is wildly inefficient. So, over a bottle of wine, a group of four parents decided to change that.
When is Cubspot scheduled to launch?
January 1, 2017 Boulder County parents can join Cubspot — for free! Which is perfect timing since many start thinking about spring break and summer activities in the new year.
What are some of the features of this platform, other than having all of a child’s activities in one place?
Beyond being able to find 10x more options in one place, searchable and displayed, in a way that parents want. You’ll be able to save programs for later, sign up for discount alerts, automagically set calendar events and more. We will be rolling out new features every month.
How many businesses can parents expect to see in the marketplace? Are you expecting many more?
We have 315 businesses on Cubspot and 2000 programs (adding more daily) — just for Boulder. We are expecting more as word gets out that there’s finally everything in one place. Parents and caregivers can suggest businesses too and we will reach out to them personally. Otherwise, they just go to cubspot.com and sign up.
What are some of the advantages for businesses that join?
For anyone who offers camps, lessons, tutoring, and activities, for kids K-12, it’s free to sign up and offers these businesses better SEO and free marketing for their K-12 kid’s programs. It also provides an additional digital storefront that links directly to their current website, email, and/or Facebook page, so they can interface directly with their new customers.
Is there a complicated process for businesses or parents to get set up in Cubspot?
Provider sign-up only takes 30 seconds, adding their individual programs takes up to another 30 minutes. That’s it. And they can make edits/additions, any time.
Parent sign-up only takes one minute — we will add information parents can provide in future releases in order to make the discovery aspect even better for their unique family.
Our engineering team are all parents so they are incredibly mindful about each sign up step and our overall security and privacy measures. I think it’s a huge advantage to have a company made up of 90% parents building technology for parents.
On top of that, there’s an online chat for parents and caregivers to reach us any time of day to help with sign up and even provide feedback, so Cubspot is always getting even better.
What external calendars will the Cubspot calendar sync with? (Outlook, Google, iCal, etc)
Cubspot users will be able to add their favorite activities to any calendar — really. We support Google’s calendar, iCal for Mac, Outlook, and apps on iPhone and Android, among others.
Your website states that tutors are also available through this system. Are these independent providers? How are they screened?
Yes, you can find tutors on Cubspot; many of them are independent providers. We are rolling out a review system — amazingly, there is no one-stop-shop for reviews of childcare providers. We’re going to fix that too. Additionally, we always recommend parents ask for 2-3 references from the provider. In the coming months we will be adding in certifications and badges for providers who have passed different background checks and/or have consistently high reviews.
Do you have any tips to offer parents or businesses that are just getting started on Cubspot?
Go into discovery mode — select a few filters and check out the results. We’re betting you discover something great for your kids you haven’t heard of before.
Share Cubspot on social. We are a local tech company, and Boulder is our launch market. The more users on the site, the better it will be. It’s an easy way to support a local business.
Recommend K-12 activity providers to us. If you know of an amazing activity provider that’s not yet on Cubspot, please tell us! Or have them sign up.
Who should our readers contact if they still have questions?
Email: [email protected] and Twitter: @hellocubspot