Care.com
Care.com runs an online marketplace matching families with babysitters, nannies, and other caregivers.
On the record
Checkpoint: Enterprise renewal cycle vs Bright Horizons under new PE ownership
The call
Care.com holds real infrastructure and enterprise contracts, but its growth engine now faces a better-integrated rival and a new PE owner focused on cost, not expansion.
Care.com runs a marketplace that connects people who need childcare, senior care, and pet care with vetted caregivers, and makes money by charging both sides of the transaction or selling services to big employers. It's hard to replace because it has built up a large network of background-checked caregivers and serves 700 companies that bundle care benefits for their employees, but Bright Horizons (which owns a rival called Sittercity) is already competing directly for those same employer contracts and can offer more services all in one place, while AI tools are making it easier for people to find and manage care without using Care.com at all. The one thing that could turn this around is if Care.com can keep and grow its employer business under its new private owner, but that's uncertain because the new owner is focused on cutting costs rather than building the business bigger.
Why
01
AI pressure: Ohai (AI household assistant founded by Care.com's own founder Sheila Marcelo). General AI assistants can handle care search and scheduling directly, and the founder's own new startup bets that model beats Care.com's marketplace. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Bright Horizons Family Solutions (owns Sittercity, plus physical backup care centers). Bright Horizons pitches employers a combined digital plus physical backup care package, going after the same enterprise contracts Care.com depends on. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Background-check infrastructure and 700+ enterprise contracts create switching costs a pure AI tool can't easily replicate.
What would change this call
Reports of named enterprise clients switching to Bright Horizons/Sittercity in 2026-2027. Would show Care for Business, the main growth engine, losing to the integrated rival.
Pacific Avenue's first-year moves: reinvestment vs layoffs/cost cuts disclosed in 2026. Shows whether new PE owner is building growth or managing the company toward a quick exit.
Care.com revenue and enterprise client count reported for fiscal 2026. Confirms whether flat-to-declining revenue trend reverses or continues worsening.
Pacific Avenue's first-year moves: reinvestment vs layoffs/cost cuts disclosed in 2026. Shows whether new PE owner is building growth or managing the company toward a quick exit.
Care.com revenue and enterprise client count reported for fiscal 2026. Confirms whether flat-to-declining revenue trend reverses or continues worsening.
Key numbers
- 2024 revenue $370M, adj EBITDA $45M
- Pacific Avenue paid ~$320M, down from IAC's ~$500M in 2020
- Enterprise client base grew 18% in 2024
Named risks
- New PE owner Pacific Avenue may prioritize cost cutting over growth after March 2026 close.
- Bright Horizons integrated Sittercity plus physical care offer erodes enterprise contract renewals.
- Ongoing FTC compliance obligations after 2024 settlement could trigger renewed enforcement.
- Reported layoffs in February and August 2025 signal workforce instability continuing post acquisition.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Bright Horizons Family Solutions (Sittercity) | gaining on | Owns Sittercity plus physical backup care, contesting enterprise deals as of March 2026 analysis |
| Ohai (Sheila Marcelo's AI startup) | contesting | Care.com founder launched rival AI household assistant startup in January 2024 |
| UrbanSitter | contesting | Social referral sitter marketplace competing in consumer discovery niche |
| A Place for Mom | contesting | Direct competitor in senior care referral segment per PitchBook profile |
Questions people ask
- Who owns Care.com now in 2026?
- Care.com is owned by Pacific Avenue Capital Partners, a Los Angeles private equity firm specializing in corporate carve-outs. The deal to buy Care.com from IAC for approximately $320 million was announced March 2, 2026 and closed March 16 to 18, 2026, making Care.com an independent PE backed company again.
- Is Care.com profitable?
- Care.com reported 2024 revenue of $370 million with adjusted EBITDA of $45 million while still owned by IAC, per company disclosure cited March 2025. No audited financials have been published since the March 2026 sale to Pacific Avenue Capital Partners, which took the company out of public reporting.
- Could AI replace Care.com?
- Care.com's own caregiver search and bio writing became AI assisted in 2025, showing the matching layer is automatable. But its verified background check infrastructure and 700+ enterprise employer contracts, cited by the company as of January 2026, are harder for a pure AI entrant to replicate quickly.
- Who is Care.com's biggest competitor?
- Bright Horizons Family Solutions is the clearest threat: it owns Sittercity and pairs it with physical backup care centers, giving employers an integrated offer that directly contests Care.com's Care for Business enterprise contracts, per a March 2026 competitive analysis.
- Did Care.com get in trouble with regulators?
- Yes. The FTC settled with Care.com for $8.5 million in August 2024 over deceptive earnings and job availability claims plus cancellation dark patterns. The FTC then distributed more than $8.1 million in refunds to about 2.9 million affected consumers in June 2025.
- Did Care.com's CEO stay after the Pacific Avenue sale?
- Yes, Brad Wilson remained CEO of Care.com after Pacific Avenue Capital Partners completed its acquisition from IAC, confirmed in the deal closing announcement dated March 18, 2026.
Timeline
- 2026-03-18Pacific Avenue Capital Partners completes acquisition of Care.com from IAC
- 2026-03-02Pacific Avenue announces definitive agreement to buy Care.com for about $320 million
- 2025-06-24FTC distributes over $8.1 million in refunds to 2.9 million consumers
- 2025-06-02Care.com rebrands, launches CareProtect safety program and AI search
- 2025-03-11Care.com announces HQ relocation from Austin to Dallas
- 2024-08FTC settles with Care.com for $8.5 million over deceptive claims
- 2024-02Founder Sheila Marcelo launches AI household assistant startup Ohai
- 2020-02-11IAC completes ~$500 million acquisition of Care.com, taking it private
- 2014-01-24Care.com goes public on NYSE under ticker CRCM
- 2007-05Care.com platform launches, founded by Sheila Lirio Marcelo
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Why Family Care Marketplace Care.com Will Relocate HQ from Austin to Dallas (2025-03-11)
- Pacific Avenue Capital Partners to Acquire IAC's Care.com (2026-03-02)
- Affiliate of Pacific Avenue Capital Partners Completes Acquisition of Care.com from IAC (2026-03-18)
- Build Your Own Care.com Alternative (2026-05-28)
- Care.com Corporate (2026-01-07)
- Employee Count & Headcount Data (2026-06-29)
- Care.com Inc. Layoffs (2025-09-20)
- Care.com's Next Chapter (2025-06-02)
- An Improved Experience for Caregivers (2025-06-05)
- FTC Sends More Than $8.1 Million to Consumers (2025-06-24)
- What is Competitive Landscape of Care Company? (2026-03-20)
- Care.com's founder wants to make your family life run better with AI (2024-04-15)