Parentree.in launched to provide a social network for parents

by Satrajit Sen

Chennai-based Parentree Communications has launched Parentree.in , an online community for Indian parents. The website aims to boost the identity of an individual as a parent and connect him or her to a network of like-minded individuals.

Parentree.in offers parenting tips, reviews of schools and pre-schools, information about children's activities in cities, and the latest researches regarding children and parenting. Besides, journals and blogs, group discussions, reviews of products and services for children where any parent can participate, are also hosted on the site.

“Indians have several identities and all these identities are boosted by corresponding networks. We have LinkedIn for our professional identity, while Orkut and Facebook boost our identities as a friend,” Sathya Narayanaswamy, founder and CEO, Parentree, has told AlooTechie. “Our idea is to provide a platform to the Indian parents where they can form their own network, have fun and also discuss some serious issues related to parenting.”

“We are currently focusing on scaling and building up the community. In the future, we expect to derive revenues from advertising and also through e-commerce by launching an online store,” informed Narayanaswamy.

Speaking about the website’s reach to the consumers, Sathya Narayanaswamy said, “We won't be able to reach the mass as internet penetration is still low in India. Hence, our focus is currently on the urban middle class parents having access to internet. As penetration increases, we will definitely add some new features which will help the rural parents connect with their urban counterparts.”

Identifying the potential competitors in the market, Narayanaswamy said, “There are a few US-based websites which are primarily focussed on health and expert opinions. In India, there is a site called IndiaParenting.com which does the same. We are different as we focus on the practical aspects of Indian parenting by enabling parent-to-parent conversations and advice and not expert opinions.”

Parentree.in was founded by Shobha Durairajan and Sathya Narayanaswamy, parents of two little children. The idea was sparked when they often found themselves depending on the parents around them to gather information about what worked best for their children. So they decided to establish this idea on the web, for Indian parents across the globe to benefit from each other's knowledge. The website first went through a soft launch on August 15, 2008 to a small group of parents.