Wikipedia

Sheila Lirio Marcelo

Sheila Lirio Marcelo is a Filipino-American entrepreneur. She is the co-founder and CEO of Ohai.ai, a technology company leveraging AI for home and household mangagement. She also founded Proof of Learn, an education platform where she served as CEO, and Care.com, an online marketplace for childcare, senior care, special needs care, tutoring, pet care, and housekeeping, where she served as CEO and chairwoman.[1]

Sheila Lirio Marcelo
Sheila Lirio Marcelo, Founder, Chairwoman and CEO of Care.com, speaking to an audience.
Born
Philippines
EducationMount Holyoke College (BA)
Harvard University (MBA, JD)
Known forCare.com

Biography edit

Marcelo was born and raised in the Philippines, growing up in an entrepreneurial household that was involved in a number of businesses from coconut mills to mango and banana plantations to transportation and coal production.[2] Part of her early childhood was spent in Houston with her five siblings.[3] When Marcelo was 11, she attended Brent International School in Baguio.

She graduated magna cum laude from Mt. Holyoke College with a degree in economics and received M.B.A. and J.D. degrees, with honors and the Dean's Award from Harvard University.[4] It was during her undergraduate years at Mt. Holyoke that Marcelo had her first child, Ryan;[5] her second son, Adam, was born right after graduating from Harvard Business School.[6][7] While attending Harvard she also spent 30 hours a week on community activities, worked on several campus businesses and provided consulting services for the design of Harvard's Spangler Center.[8]

Prior to founding Care.com, she served as a consultant at Monitor Company,[9] Pyramid Research and Putnam, Hayes & Bartlett,[10] a teaching fellow at Harvard Business School,[11] Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at Upromise, an online service helping families save money for college, Vice President and General Manager of TheLadders.com, an online service helping people find jobs and entrepreneur-in-resident in the Boston office of Matrix Partners.[12]

Ohai.ai edit

In 2024, Marcelo launched Ohai.ai, a platform leveraging AI to improve the lives of families through an AI household assistant named O.

O aims to alleviate the mental load of “Chief Household Officers” through schedule management, appointment bookings, reminders, household task coordination and more. Users can simply text O using their regular SMS messaging app. A mobile app is forthcoming.

Ohai.ai has raised $6 million in a seed financing round co-led by Eniac Ventures and LifeX Ventures.[13]

Care.com edit

Marcelo's initial care challenge came after she had her first child, Ryan.[14] She was a college student and immigrant, and didn't have family nearby as a support system.[15] While helping care for her second baby boy, her father suffered a heart attack and she struggled to find care for him, as well as child care for her two sons.[16]

Between October 2006 and the end of 2012, Care.com received $111 million in funding from investors including Matrix Partners,[17][18] Trinity Ventures,[19][20] New Enterprise Associates,[21] USAA,[22] and Institutional Venture Partners (IVP).[23] Immediately prior to founding Care.com Marcelo was an Entrepreneur in residence at Matrix Partners, where she met with the founders of Sittercity.com and another website for finding caregivers, to discuss a potential investment and bringing Marcelo in as CEO.[24] Matrix Partners did not invest in either firm and, months later, Marcelo founded Care.com and received $3.5 million in Series A funding from Matrix Partners, with Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn also participating in that round.[17] The Boston Globe reported on several allegations that Marcelo had met with other companies in order to use the information for starting Care.com.[24] A spokesperson for Matrix responded denied any claims of "unfair treatment".[25]

The company went public January 24, 2014.[26] From its founding in 2006 through August 2012, Care.com had raised more than $111 million in venture capital from investors, including LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.[27] In August 2019, Care.com announced that Marcelo would transition from CEO to executive chairwoman.[28] In December 2019, Care.com was acquired by IAC for $500 million and is no longer publicly traded.[29][30]

Proof of Learn edit

Marcelo founded Proof of Learn in January 2022, and raised $15 million in a funding round led by New Enterprise Associates.[31]

Awards and honors edit

Marcelo was named one of the top 40 entrepreneurs under 40 years of age by the Boston Business Journal (2009),[32] one of the 10 most powerful women entrepreneurs by Fortune Magazine (2009),[33] one of the 10 most powerful women in Boston Tech by The Boston Globe,[34] to The Aspen Institute’s 2012 Class of Henry Crown Fellows,[35] a "Tech Luminary Innovation All-Star" by the Boston Business Journal (2012),[36] and one of The Boston Globe's 100 Innovators of 2013.[37] In 2010, she received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[38] In 2011, Marcelo was awarded a Marshall Memorial Fellowship and named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.[39] In 2013, she was inducted into the Academy of Women Achievers by the YMCA.[40]) In 2014, Marcelo received the prestigious Harvard Business School alumni award, "for her achievements as founder, chairwoman and CEO of Care.com". She is the second Filipino alum, after Jaime Zobel De Ayala,[41] to be honored with this award.[42][43] Also in 2014, she was bestowed one of the highest honors for Filipinos, the Filipino Heritage Award or Pamana ng Pilipino from President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines for her "excellence and distinction in the pursuit of [her] work or profession."[44][45] In April 2015, Marcelo received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Mt. Holyoke College.[46]

References edit

  1. ^ Susan Caminiti, "Online Marketplace Helps Million Find Family Care," CNBC.com, June 3, 2014
  2. ^ Susan Chaityn Lebovits, "Tapping Web of caregivers," The Boston Globe, December 9, 2007.
  3. ^ Susan Chaityn Lebovits, "Tapping Web of caregivers," The Boston Globe, December 9, 2007.
  4. ^ Sheila Lirio Marcelo biography, World Economic Forum.
  5. ^ Charlene Oldham, "Let's Be Clear," Success Magazine, October 8, 2012.
  6. ^ [1], Sheila's blog.
  7. ^ "Weston resident named Henry Crown Fellow," WickedLocal, April 2, 2012.
  8. ^ "8 Harvard Business School Women who Founded Great Startups," Top MBA Connect.
  9. ^ Beth Pitts, "Sheila Marcelo, Founder & CEO, Care.com, on Raising $111m Archived 2013-12-13 at the Wayback Machine," The NextWomen magazines, February 5, 2013.
  10. ^ Allison Rubin, "Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts Honors Sheila Lirio Marcelo as a Leading Woman," WestonPatch, September 16, 2013.
  11. ^ Beth Pitts, "Sheila Marcelo, Founder & CEO, Care.com, on Raising $111m Archived 2013-12-13 at the Wayback Machine," The NextWomen magazines, February 5, 2013.
  12. ^ "40 under 40: Sheila Lirio Marcelo," Boston Business Journal, October 5, 2009.
  13. ^ "This company designed an AI assistant to help families manage their calendars and childcare".
  14. ^ Beth Pitts, "Sheila Marcelo, Founder & CEO, Care.com, on Raising $111m Archived 2013-12-13 at the Wayback Machine," The NextWomen magazines, February 5, 2013.
  15. ^ Beth Pitts, "Sheila Marcelo, Founder & CEO, Care.com, on Raising $111m Archived 2013-12-13 at the Wayback Machine," The NextWomen magazines, February 5, 2013.
  16. ^ Susan Chaityn Lebovits, "Tapping Web of caregivers," The Boston Globe, December 9, 2007.
  17. ^ a b Om Malik, "Reid Hoffman invests in Care.com," GigaOm, July 30, 2007.
  18. ^ Matt Marshall, "Caring.com, a site for caregivers, to launch this week," VentureBeat, September 20, 2007.
  19. ^ James M. Connolly, "Care.com raises $25 million with insurer USAA as corporate VC," Boston Business Journal, October 12, 2011.
  20. ^ "Care.com, Inc. Obtains $9,999,900 New Financing Round," Xconomy.com.
  21. ^ Leena Rao, "Care.com Raises $20 Million To Connect You To Nannies, Babysitters And Caregivers," TechCrunch, October 12, 2010.
  22. ^ James M. Connolly, “Care.com raises $25 million with insurer USAA as corporate VC,” Boston Business Journal, October 12, 2011.
  23. ^ Brian Womack, “Care.com Raises $50 Million in Fifth Round of VC Funding Archived January 5, 2014, at the Wayback Machine,” Bloomberg Businessweek, August 7, 2012.
  24. ^ a b "Websites' rivalry provides lesson about sharing strategy". Boston.com. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  25. ^ Scott Kirsner, "The Backstory: On Care.com, Sittercity, Entrepreneurs, and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence," Boston.com, November 23, 2009.
  26. ^ Jordan Graham, "Experts: Care.com IPO shows Boston’s Web savvy," Boston Herald, January 24, 2014.
  27. ^ "Citybizlist Interviews Sheila Marcelo, CEO, Care.com Archived 2013-12-13 at the Wayback Machine," CityBizList Boston, May 14, 2012.
  28. ^ "[2]," Care.com press release, August 6, 2019.
  29. ^ "[3]," IAC press release, December 20, 2019.
  30. ^ Dumcius, Gintautas (December 20, 2019). "Care.com acquired for $500M, new CEO appointed". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  31. ^ "Proof of Learn Raises $15M in Round Led by New Enterprise Associates". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  32. ^ "40 under 40: Sheila Lirio Marcelo," Boston Business Journal, October 5, 2009.
  33. ^ "Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs: Sheila Lirio Marcelo," Fortune Magazine, December 18, 2009.
  34. ^ Scott Kirsner, "The 10 most powerful women in Boston tech (plus 5 up-and-comers)," Boston Globe, February 8, 2012.
  35. ^ "Aspen Institute Names Sheila Lirio Marcelo as 2012 Henry Crown Fellow Archived 2012-07-08 at the Wayback Machine," Weston Patch, March 12, 2012.
  36. ^ "Tech Luminary: Sheila Lirio Marcelo," Boston Business Journal, November 16, 2012.
  37. ^ Cindy Atoji Keene, "Top innovators in Massachusetts," Boston Globe, May 19, 2013.
  38. ^ "Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2010 award winners in New England announced," Ernst & Young web site.
  39. ^ "Care.com and its Founder CEO Sheila Lirio Marcelo Raise $25 million in Venture Capital Archived 2011-12-01 at the Wayback Machine," News on Women, October 12, 2011.
  40. ^ Mark Shanahan and Meredith Goldstein, "Civil rights trailblazer Glendora Putnam honored," Boston Globe, June 30, 2013.
  41. ^ Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Wikipedia.
  42. ^ "Sheila Lirio Marcelo receives prestigious Harvard Business School alumni award Archived 2015-07-09 at the Wayback Machine," Asian Journal, August 28, 2014.
  43. ^ "Filipina one of Harvard Business School’s outstanding alumni," Inquirer, August 28, 2014.
  44. ^ "Sheila Marcelo receives 'Pamana ng Pilipino' award," ABS CBN, December 5, 2014.
  45. ^ "White House Summit on Working Families - In Pictures," The Guardian, June 23, 2014
  46. ^ "Rundown of commencements at Mass. universities," Boston Globe, April 24, 2014.
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