Sherah founder Kristin Richardson (left) and Samantha Preddy, the company’s operations director. (Courtesy Sherah)
Sherah, a local startup that connects working moms with personal assistants to help with errands and parenting tasks, is soon to launch a mobile app amid its first-ever capital raise.
Founder Kristin Richardson, a mother herself, launched Sherah in 2022. Prior to making Sherah her full-time gig, Richardson was chief communications officer at local concierge medical service PartnerMD.
Sherah’s membership-based service lets customers, typically stressed moms who are still in the workforce, assign tasks to Sherah’s team of contractors, such as setting up a doctor’s appointment or ordering a birthday cake.
“We have learned that our biggest competitor is women continuing to do it themselves, and continuing to be stressed out doing it themselves,” Richardson said.
A Sherah membership ranges from $20-$100 per month, with a $1-$2 per minute charge added for the time it takes a contractor to complete a task.
A $20 per month membership includes virtual-only support, while a $100 per month membership includes in-person service from contractors.
Since launching in Richmond three years ago, Sherah has moved to multiple new markets. In May of last year, it announced its first move out of town, to Alexandria. Less than a year later, Sherah now has on-the-ground support in five markets: Richmond, the D.C. metro area, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Charlotte.
With a steady stream of women applying to be contractors at Sherah, Richardson said the startup also plans to expand to markets like Raleigh and Charlottesville soon, as well as some other, yet to be announced locations.
Sherah has also expanded to virtual support services, Richardson said, after women in markets where Sherah does not have on-the-ground contractors began reaching out to her, asking for some form of service, even if it’s not in-person.
“As a startup founder, you listen to the marketplace and you need to be able to pivot and adapt to what the market is telling you to what it will buy,” Richardson said.
Sherah now has customers in 20 states getting virtual support from contractors.
Sherah currently has a roster of around 25 to 30 contractors, and around 160 currently active users in Richmond, with about the same number spread across all of Sherah’s other markets, Richardson said. The company has supported around 500 families to-date, she added.
To continue the growth, Sherah is currently working on raising its first round of investor capital, with a goal of $750,000. Richardson said Sherah has raised around half of that amount thus far.
The round has been mostly comprised of female investors, she said, many of whom are understanding of Sherah’s mission to provide some aid to working moms.
“When I talk to a potential female investor, they immediately cut me off and say, ‘I get it. I’m your target audience,’” Richardson said, adding that several Sherah customers are also investing in the round.
Once completed, the new capital will primarily be used for tech development to expand faster and to take on corporate clients, as well as for marketing, Richardson said.
“We’re going to start selling (business-to-business) soon as an employee benefit for employers to pay for it for certain employees,” she said.
Sherah is also gearing up to launch its first mobile app. Currently, the startup has a website where customers can log on and add tasks to be done by contractors. But while the platform is mobile-accessible, it is not an app.
“Being able to develop and give our members the functionality to download something that’s even more user-friendly will help us to grow even faster and provide an even better experience,” Richardson said.
Sherah plans to launch the app on May 21. The startup is also concurrently working on an AI chatbot feature it hopes to launch sometime in the near future.
“What we’re creating is, a customer will be able to talk to her phone and say, ‘Sherah, add a task,’ and the chatbot will talk back to her and ask a series of questions,” Richardson said. “That information will flow right into our system.”
Sherah has been working on the two tech-based projects for the last three months with tech advisor Luke Rabin at the helm. Rabin has had his hand in plenty of Richmond startups, most recently as the founder and CEO of DSCVRY, a “problem discovery tool” that helps startup founders. Rabin founded DSCVRY in 2023.
Sherah is profitable and has one employee, its operations director and Richardson’s business partner Samantha Preddy.
As Sherah continues to grow both in capabilities and geographically, Richardson said the stories she’s heard from working moms who use the service are what keeps her motivated.
“When these people will call us and send us emails saying, ‘You’ve changed my life…. I was about to quit my job and didn’t think I could continue in my career, but now I feel like I can breathe,’” she said. “That makes it all worth it.”
Sherah founder Kristin Richardson (left) and Samantha Preddy, the company’s operations director. (Courtesy Sherah)
Sherah, a local startup that connects working moms with personal assistants to help with errands and parenting tasks, is soon to launch a mobile app amid its first-ever capital raise.
Founder Kristin Richardson, a mother herself, launched Sherah in 2022. Prior to making Sherah her full-time gig, Richardson was chief communications officer at local concierge medical service PartnerMD.
Sherah’s membership-based service lets customers, typically stressed moms who are still in the workforce, assign tasks to Sherah’s team of contractors, such as setting up a doctor’s appointment or ordering a birthday cake.
“We have learned that our biggest competitor is women continuing to do it themselves, and continuing to be stressed out doing it themselves,” Richardson said.
A Sherah membership ranges from $20-$100 per month, with a $1-$2 per minute charge added for the time it takes a contractor to complete a task.
A $20 per month membership includes virtual-only support, while a $100 per month membership includes in-person service from contractors.
Since launching in Richmond three years ago, Sherah has moved to multiple new markets. In May of last year, it announced its first move out of town, to Alexandria. Less than a year later, Sherah now has on-the-ground support in five markets: Richmond, the D.C. metro area, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Charlotte.
With a steady stream of women applying to be contractors at Sherah, Richardson said the startup also plans to expand to markets like Raleigh and Charlottesville soon, as well as some other, yet to be announced locations.
Sherah has also expanded to virtual support services, Richardson said, after women in markets where Sherah does not have on-the-ground contractors began reaching out to her, asking for some form of service, even if it’s not in-person.
“As a startup founder, you listen to the marketplace and you need to be able to pivot and adapt to what the market is telling you to what it will buy,” Richardson said.
Sherah now has customers in 20 states getting virtual support from contractors.
Sherah currently has a roster of around 25 to 30 contractors, and around 160 currently active users in Richmond, with about the same number spread across all of Sherah’s other markets, Richardson said. The company has supported around 500 families to-date, she added.
To continue the growth, Sherah is currently working on raising its first round of investor capital, with a goal of $750,000. Richardson said Sherah has raised around half of that amount thus far.
The round has been mostly comprised of female investors, she said, many of whom are understanding of Sherah’s mission to provide some aid to working moms.
“When I talk to a potential female investor, they immediately cut me off and say, ‘I get it. I’m your target audience,’” Richardson said, adding that several Sherah customers are also investing in the round.
Once completed, the new capital will primarily be used for tech development to expand faster and to take on corporate clients, as well as for marketing, Richardson said.
“We’re going to start selling (business-to-business) soon as an employee benefit for employers to pay for it for certain employees,” she said.
Sherah is also gearing up to launch its first mobile app. Currently, the startup has a website where customers can log on and add tasks to be done by contractors. But while the platform is mobile-accessible, it is not an app.
“Being able to develop and give our members the functionality to download something that’s even more user-friendly will help us to grow even faster and provide an even better experience,” Richardson said.
Sherah plans to launch the app on May 21. The startup is also concurrently working on an AI chatbot feature it hopes to launch sometime in the near future.
“What we’re creating is, a customer will be able to talk to her phone and say, ‘Sherah, add a task,’ and the chatbot will talk back to her and ask a series of questions,” Richardson said. “That information will flow right into our system.”
Sherah has been working on the two tech-based projects for the last three months with tech advisor Luke Rabin at the helm. Rabin has had his hand in plenty of Richmond startups, most recently as the founder and CEO of DSCVRY, a “problem discovery tool” that helps startup founders. Rabin founded DSCVRY in 2023.
Sherah is profitable and has one employee, its operations director and Richardson’s business partner Samantha Preddy.
As Sherah continues to grow both in capabilities and geographically, Richardson said the stories she’s heard from working moms who use the service are what keeps her motivated.
“When these people will call us and send us emails saying, ‘You’ve changed my life…. I was about to quit my job and didn’t think I could continue in my career, but now I feel like I can breathe,’” she said. “That makes it all worth it.”
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How is this a time saver? For example, by the time you like input into the Sherah app what kind of cake you wanted, date delivered, description on cake, etc. you could have just as easily placed the order with the bakery itself.
Amen! But this is where marketing comes in. Marketing will make you think the way you’re ordering the cake on the Sherah app is cool, and much more in line with how the world works today.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s like in the office when the boss asks you to send a fax or do some other simple task. You think, why didn’t he or she do it themselves rather than take the time to assign it to me and explain it to me? It’s because if something goes wrong, like the paper jams or you have a transmission problem, you want the delegatee dealing with that rather than you. It could be the same thing here – offload any potential headaches.
PC Load Letter?
In Richmond?? Good luck with this venture.
I always love reading these updates about Sherah’s continued growth. Well done, Kristin! Clearly there is a need being addressed. Sherah, take me away!
Such a thoughtful business. Women helping women– supporting each other so we can continue to feel successful and focused at work, maintaining and juggling all the tasks at home. Love seeing your continued growth!