Lebanon-Based On-demand Child Care Startup Snares $40,000 From The World Bank
SOURCE: Inc. Arabia - Lebanon-Based On-demand Child Care Startup Snares $40,000 From The World Bank
Lebanon-based startup Jaleesa, which connects families with trusted babysitters, has secured a $40,000 equity-free contribution from the World Bank, it said in a statement.
The World Bank’s investment comes as part of a $200,000 seed round currently being raised by Jaleesa, it said in a statement.
The seed round will contribute to the development of Jaleesa’s child care initiatives and expansion of its operations to other cities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Jaleesa claims to have delivered over 1,200 hours of trusted child care.
It aims to help women work by offering flexible and trusted child, recruiting babysitters from all backgrounds in Lebanon and subsidizing child care for underprivileged families.
Jaleesa’s babysitters go through a four-step security and training process, including background checks and training in first aid and child development.
The $40,000 contribution is sponsored by the World Bank as part of WeMENA, an initiative that supports women social entrepreneurs to build resilience in cities across MENA.
Jaleesa was selected from among 2,000 women-led startups from across the region and won second prize in WeMENA’s final event held in Casablanca, Morocco, last week.
WeMENA is a joint initiative of the World Bank, YouNoodle, and Voyaj.
Jaleesa’s participation in the WeMENA finals was sponsored by Altcity’s Bootcamp, an intensive startup training program in Beirut, from which Jaleesa graduated in September 2016.
SOURCE: Inc. Arabia - Lebanon-Based On-demand Child Care Startup Snares $40,000 From The World Bank