Babysitter App Receives Startup Funding

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (Oct. 26, 2021) — GittaSitta, a startup focused on helping parents book babysitters, today announced a $20,000 investment from Elevate Ventures’ Community Ideation Fund.

GittaSitta streamlines the tedious babysitter booking process down to minutes. Using the app, parents add sitters from the contact list in their phone, customize a text message that will be sent to selected sitters, and the sitters then have a deadline to respond to the request.

GittaSitta was founded in 2019 by Mandy Kinnucan and Anna Johnson. At the time, the two busy moms were working at the University of Notre Dame and were frustrated about the time-consuming process of finding babysitters. Working with connections at the IDEA Center, they formed a team and development of the app came to fruition.

“Mandy exhibits the qualities needed in a startup founder,” said Nicholas Kuhn, Elevate Ventures’ entrepreneur-in-residence serving Startup South Bend-Elkhart, a partnership supporting entrepreneurs in north-central Indiana. “She has shown resilience, adaptability, and eagerness to learn. I’m excited for the team as they enter a new phase of growth.”

GittaSitta launched a beta test in early April, with over 60 parents downloading and testing the app. The 1.0 version of the app is currently available on the App Store (Android version coming soon). Users can download the app for free and get one free babysitter request before becoming a paid subscriber.

The company will use the funding from Elevate for product development and advertising.

“Elevate Ventures has been a tremendous source of support as we launch GittaSitta,” said Kinnucan. “The Community Ideation Fund will provide a solid foundation as we roll out the 1.0 version of GittaSitta and begin our advertising campaign. We know when moms and dads hear about how much easier it can be to line up the sitters they love, GittaSitta is going to be the first thing busy parents turn to when they want some kid-free time!”

Elevate’s Community Ideation Fund is made possible through its partnership with Startup South Bend-Elkhart. The Community Ideation Fund is available through the state’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, which is overseen by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and promotes economic growth and innovation-driven public-private partnerships in Indiana.