Post written by guest author Megan O’Neill

Commily is a new Israeli startup with a drive to make life easier for all of the busy parents out there. The site is a social network for families that provides parents with the tools they need to easily deal with day-to-day issues with their kids such as scheduling play dates and carpools; find recommended services and products, from team uniforms and sports equipment to school supplies; and stay in touch with their children’s friends, classmates, teachers, coaches and administrators. Unlike other social networks, which are designed to connect people on a large scale, Commily is designed to bring together small communities to help simplify family and community life.

Commily was founded by three parents who are also experienced in the world of business and high tech—Gil Levonai, Micki Segal and Laura Waas. Gil, Micki and Laura saw the need for a simpler method of dealing with the day-to-day lives of their children and so they created Commily.

Ayelet and I met with Micki who vividly expressed the difficulties that working parents face in trying to organize the lives of their children. She hopes that Commily will simplify the lives of working parents by “Incorporating all of a child’s community into a single location.” Through the site, parents can coordinate carpool dates, as well as plan parties and events with other families from their children’s schools, day care, sports teams, religious communities or neighborhood. Commily users keep calendars and build profiles with pertinent information about each child, including likes, dislikes and hobbies, to keep the other parents in the community informed.

Aside from simplifying family life, I think that one of the most interesting things about Commily is its program called “Giving Back with Commily.” The site shares a percentage of its revenues with the communities that use the service. This money is donated to local charities, which are chosen by Commily users themselves. It is nice to see how committed Commily is to its goal of enhancing local community life.

Commily is currently looking for seed funding. The site has launched its pilot for Chicago-area residents and is looking for leaders to help launch Commily in other cities.

I think that the biggest challenge for this site will be recruiting community leaders and drawing users in local communities into it. However, if they can achieve this, Commily stands to be a great tool for simplifying the lives of working parents everywhere.

Megan O’Neill has worked with a number of Internet and media related companies both in the United States and in Israel in design, content and marketing positions. She currently works at Blonde 2.0 as a Social Media Marketing Assistant.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 1:48 pm and is filed under Startups. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.