Taking Care Of Aging Parents

Caring.com announced the beta availability of its website. Caring.com will offer original "how to" guides, time saving information, access to experts, helpful information and resources, and a community of people in caring situations, to create an unprecedented support resource for the more than 34 million adults who are caring for an aging relative in the United States today.

The number of U.S. caregivers is expected to grow steadily over the next few years, as the 79 million Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964) assume the responsibility of caring for their aging or ailing parents who have Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or other disabling conditions. Founded by a team of consumer Internet veterans who have each cared for or are caring for aging parents, Caring.com brings together a unique blend of real world experience and expert information and resources, to give caregivers the insight they need to make the most informed decision about a parent's care.

"When I was caring for my mom during her unsuccessful battle with lung cancer last year, I found a lot of information about the disease on the web, but nothing about all the other things I needed to figure out how to help her with her daily living activities, finances, and legal affairs. I didn't have much time and I had no confidence that the decisions I made were the right decisions," said Andy Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder of Caring.com. "We're launching Caring.com to help people figure out what they need to consider in caring for their parents, and also offer connections to others going through the same situation, to make a difficult journey a little bit easier."

Caring.com has original content geared towards the most difficult topics researched and managed by people helping their parents -- healthcare, financial, legal, housing, and life issues.

The Caring.com founding team includes Steve Fram, Chief Technology Officer, and Jim Scott, Editor-in-Chief. Jim and Steve spent eight years at BabyCenter building its site into the leading destination for new and expectant moms, now in 11 countries around the world. The Caring.com editorial team includes writers who have written for The Wall Street Journal, Parenting, WebMD, and Health Magazine, and an impressive advisory board, including Dr. Peter Pompei of Stanford, Dr. Andy Scharlach of UC Berkeley, and David Solie, author of "How To Say It to Seniors: Closing the Communication Gap with Our Elders."

Caring.com has also announced that it has secured $6M in Series A funding from DCM and Split Rock Partners. The funding will support the further development of the Caring.com site, including new features and functionality. Additionally, the financial support from DCM and Split Rock will support the build out of the Caring.com team, including adding to the world class editorial and development teams.

"Eldercare is a $500 billion category that is expected to grow by double digits for the next 30 years," said Tom Blaisdell, General Partner at DCM, who serves on the Caring.com board and provided seed funding to the company at the beginning of the year.

"We believe Caring.com will become the most trusted source of eldercare information and community on the web," said Jim Simons, General Partner at Split Rock Partners, who led the Series A funding.