News

An Adelaide-based social networking app built to connect and support parents raising children with disabilities has been awarded a $360,000 South Australian Government grant to launch and scale their business.

The grant will support Kindship’s next stage of app development and business growth, with financial support provided by the South Australian Government’s Seed-Start program.

Built in partnership with 200 early adopters, the Kindship app connects parents raising children with disabilities, developmental delays and neurodiversity, addressing the need for real time and experience-informed support.

Kindship Founder and CEO Summer Petrosius said Kindship is the first social networking app built with, and specifically for, a community with diverse and highly complex support needs.

“The funding will resource the critical development of Kindship’s staffing, organisational, and product infrastructure so that we can reach our growth, impact, and sustainability goals,” Ms Petrosius said.

“We will be setting our sights on becoming an integral part of the childhood disability diagnostic experience.

“This will include developing partnerships with key stakeholders in Australia’s disability and health sectors.

“We believe that Kindship’s success will influence the future of peer-to-peer support and digital innovation for other at-risk community groups in Australia.”

Kindship will use the funding to help with the national launch and scale of their app, with the company’s first objective to reach 10,000 weekly active users. Up to 166 full-time local jobs are expected to be created as the business grows.

Kindship was one of two businesses to recently secure Seed-Start grant funding – the other being Forty2 Science, a technology-based startup producing field-leading climate projections and climate related products, which received a $130,000 grant.