Onward Solutions Inc., a Marina del Rey-based fintech developer of co-parenting assistance software, has raised $9.7 million in series A funding. The company plans to beef up its presence in Los Angeles, as well as expand its product portfolio.
Onward Solutions officials said the firm is dedicated to helping the roughly 50 million co-parents in the U.S. “who rely on messy text messages and emailed spreadsheets to keep track of shared expenses for their children,” which can cause frustration for all parties involved.
Onward said its software significantly reduces the friction in communication for co-parents by making it immediately clear what either party owes the other for any expenses incurred. The app allows parties to record and track shared expense histories that can be easily exported.
In its Oct. 27 fundraising announcement, the company said the series A funding comes on the heels of a significant growth period, with nearly 100,000 app installs from co-parents.
Jacklyn Adele Rome, chief executive and founder of Onward, said in an accompanying statement that the fundraise signals Onward’s strong hold on a growing niche market in need of specific and tailored fintech.
Rome said financial disputes can ruin the most amicable relationships, something she experienced firsthand following her own parents’ divorce when she was 14 years old. Rome launched Onward in 2020, following successful leadership stints for product launches at Uber Technologies Inc. and Blue Apron Inc., among others.
“We’re very excited and grateful to continue to have the support of our investors as we aim to address a significant and unaddressed need for millions of co-parents across this country,” Rome said in a statement. “We’re determined to continue to build products that reduce friction in their lives and deliver social impact by enabling them to be better parents to the next generation.” The company recently hired talent from fintech companies including PayPal, Stash, Acorns and Intuit as part of its growth.
The series A funding round was led by Atlanta-based TTV Capital. Companies including New York-based firms Lerer Hippeau and Citi Ventures and Bay Area firms Correlation Ventures and Gingerbread Capital participated in the funding round.
“We always look for three things when deciding to make an investment: founder, vision, and opportunity. Onward checks all of those boxes and more,” Mark Johnson, partner at TTV Capital, said in the Oct. 27 announcement. “Jacklyn and her team have dug into the co-parenting experience to design an intuitive product. We’re confident that this infusion of new capital will enable Onward to build even more solutions that benefit co-parents everywhere.”
Luis Valdich, managing director of Venture Investing at Citi Ventures, said Citi was impressed by Onward’s strategy for addressing a massive gap in the market “head-on and with thoughtful, human-centric financial services.
“We’re excited to continue supporting Onward’s growth trajectory as it enables co-parents to streamline financial discussions and focus on what matters most: their families,” Valdich said in a statement.
