Wellington-based startup PAM (Personal Administration Manager) has raised NZ$570,000 (A$502k) in the first part of its Seed funding round. The app helps parents manage the daily tasks and admin work involved in raising a family.
The funding was led by Flying Kiwi Angels and included support from Icehouse Ventures, Sarah Park of Even Capital, Janine Grainger (Easy Crypto founder), Foggy Valley, Wainot Investment, and other investors.
PAM aims to raise a total of NZ$800,000 for its Seed round by the end of 2025 to further develop the app and expand its services.
anine Grainger and Brent Spicer, the founder of Marsello, will join PAM’s board, while angel investor Caro Williams will act as a board observer.
Nicole Retter, a Māori mother and cofounder and CEO of PAM, started the app in February after switching from a marketing career to becoming a startup founder in 2023.
This year, PAM became the top app in New Zealand’s Apple App Store, surpassing apps like Tinder and Hinge, and now has over 16,000 users.
“The funding is about a lot more than money – it’s validation,” Retter said.
“Parents and caregivers are telling us PAM makes a real difference in their daily lives and with the support of our investors and new board members, we can scale that impact far beyond New Zealand.
She came up with the idea during the stress of New Zealand’s Covid lockdowns.
“Our surveys show 90% of women are the primary coordinators at home and most of them are really stressed about it. PAM is designed to share that load equally amongst households.”
PAM uses AI to understand all kinds of family communications, whether it’s an email, a screenshot, a voice memo, or even a crumpled birthday invite found in a school bag.
The app then automatically turns these into events, reminders to RSVP, prompts to buy gifts, or notes to pack costumes, assigning the right task to the appropriate family member.
Retter said it’s all about making it easier to rebalance the family life load, loop in partners, whānau (extended family or community), or other help to build a more sustainable support network.
She plans to change PAM from a free app to a freemium subscription model in New Zealand and the US. The goal is to reach NZ$375,000 in monthly recurring revenue within 12 months, charging $15 per month for basic users, with discounts for existing users.
New users will get a two-week free trial, and more premium features will unlock as they use the app more.
Upcoming features include shared grocery lists for families or flatmates medication tracking for daily routines, and an SOS function to alert a user’s support network when urgent help is needed like a last-minute school pickup.
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