pairtree Secures $2.25M Seed Funding for Adoption Platform

Navigating the Complexities of Adoption with PairTree

The decision to pursue adoption, whether as an expectant mother seeking a family or as hopeful adoptive parents, is a multifaceted undertaking. It’s a process often characterized by legal intricacies, emotional challenges, substantial costs, and significant time commitments. PairTree is a new online platform designed to streamline a crucial aspect of this journey: connecting expectant mothers and prospective adoptive families directly, bypassing traditional agency structures.

The Traditional Adoption Process and Its Challenges

Embarking on the path to adoption typically involves considerable expense, often exceeding $50,000, and can take over a year and a half to achieve a successful match. While legal procedures contribute to these costs and timelines, a primary factor is the limited availability of adoption opportunities and the difficulty in ensuring compatibility.

For many, adoption follows unsuccessful fertility treatments, adding emotional weight to an already demanding process. The extended wait can be particularly disheartening.

PairTree's Innovative Approach to Matching

Erin Quick, CEO and co-founder of PairTree, alongside CTO Justin Friberg, highlights a key trend in modern adoption: the prevalence of open adoption. Approximately 95% of adoptions today involve ongoing contact between the biological mother and the adoptive family.

“This ongoing relationship underscores the importance of finding a highly compatible match,” Quick explained. However, traditional adoption agencies, often operating at the state level, can limit the reach for potential connections.

PairTree aims to overcome these geographical limitations by creating a platform that simplifies and accelerates the matching process.

How PairTree Functions: A Compatibility-Focused Platform

The PairTree platform draws parallels to dating apps, though with a far more profound context. Like dating, adoption involves connecting individuals based on personality and individual needs.

Both expectant mothers and prospective adopters complete comprehensive personality assessments. These assessments utilize Jungian archetypes to identify core life priorities, such as a preference for exploration versus a focus on nurturing.

These insights, alongside other demographic and personal details, help facilitate more meaningful connections.

The Matching Process and Due Diligence

Expectant mothers can then browse profiles of adoptive families and initiate contact, mirroring the functionality of apps like Bumble. PairTree also conducts essential due diligence, including identity verification and confirmation of completed home studies.

Once a potential match is identified, all relevant information is shared with the adoption facilitator, who manages the remaining legal and financial aspects.

Collaboration with Agencies and Cost Reduction

PairTree isn’t intended to replace adoption agencies, but rather to enhance their efficiency. Quick notes that agencies have actively embraced the platform, recognizing its potential to shorten wait times and improve outcomes.

Early data suggests PairTree can reduce the wait time by half or even two-thirds, leading to a corresponding decrease in costs associated with agency searches and legal work.

Promoting Diversity and Inclusivity in Adoption

PairTree is committed to inclusivity, addressing historical biases within the adoption system. The platform actively supports LGBTQ+ families and single parents, groups that have historically faced discrimination.

Recent Supreme Court decisions have upheld the right of religious adoption agencies to deny services to same-sex couples, but PairTree has already successfully facilitated adoptions for these families.

Supporting Birth Mothers Through the Lifetime Healing Foundation

The company demonstrates its commitment to all parties involved in adoption by allocating 5% of its net profits to the Lifetime Healing Foundation. This organization provides counseling and support services to birth mothers throughout the adoption process.

Seed Funding and Future Development

PairTree recently secured $2.25 million in seed funding, led by Urban Innovation Fund, with participation from Founder Collective, Female Founders Alliance, and Techstars. This investment will fuel product expansion, strategic partnerships, and the development of a native mobile app, catering to the 90% of users who access the service via mobile devices.

“We are thankful for the support of our investors, who share our vision of making adoption a more accessible path to parenthood,” said Quick. “Our investors recognize that adoption is a lifelong journey for all involved – adoptees, biological families, and adoptive families.”