Today, 2houses launches in public beta, offering separated or divorced parents a set of digital tools to easily communicate about and make arrangements with regards to their children.
This is obviously a large – and, in my opinion, unfortunately a growing – market to tap, and what I like about 2houses is that the founder is a divorced parent himself and started the company to scratch his own itch.
I also dig the company name and logo, though that’s obviously personal.
Parents who are no longer married, living together or romantically involved, can use 2houses to organize child custody, share reports about school and medical information, and track expenses.
And let’s face it. Often, split families will avoid a lot of personal tension, stress, discussions and all-out fights when they can communicate online on a neutral platform rather than talking face-to-face or over the phone – or using the kids as messengers.
With a Web platform, 2houses aims to basically make things a lot smoother for everyone involved, including the children. You can find some screenshots below – mobile apps are the next step.
And if you’re still happily together with your significant other, you can use 2houses’ Facebook app to calculate when you’ll be separating.
While in beta, 2houses will remain free of charge to allow separated and divorced parents to test the service and share their feedback with the founders. When the full version is released – likely in February 2012 – the monthly fee will amount to 6 euros per month (with a free 2-month trial period).
2houses was founded in Belgium in May 2011, by CEO Gill Ruidant. The startup graduated from Brussels Founder Institute, and also won first place at the Spring 2011 Brussels Semester.
Full disclosure: I was a Founder Institute Brussels mentor that semester, which means I’m indirectly a minor shareholder of all graduates, including 2houses.
2houses.com is an online communication, scheduling and reporting tool for separated or divorced parents with respect to their children. 2houses.com offers: a shared calendar with the parenting schedule and any special event or appointment an expense module allowing for efficient tracking and balancing of the expenses a journal in which parents can add quick notes like the feedback of a teacher an information bank allowing to store every information about the children ranging from their shirt size to the vaccination record
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