Community building: The Parentinc edition

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Hi readers,

When I became a cat mom over two years ago, nothing could have prepared me for everything that came with it.

Beyond the mental and emotional prep, there were other practical things too. Thanks to a thriving petcare industry, there’s a wide range of homemade recipes and ready-made food. From raw, gently- or fully-cooked meats enriched with omega oils to hypoallergenic treats – you name it, they sell it.

And we haven’t even gotten to the toys, grooming services, and behavioral and health concerns yet.

I’m not a parent, but I get the sense that parenthood isn’t too far off – a profusion of joy, a rollercoaster of emotions, and an endless list of tasks to check off and needs to meet.

I can’t thank my fellow cat-parent friends enough for dealing with my barrage of questions and anxieties in those first few months, so I understand why parents are drawn to the community.

I’m not one of the 5.5 million registered users of theAsianparent, but it’s clear to me how important it is to be connected to a community of like-minded people going through the same highs and lows.

This month, theAsianparent owner The Parentinc acquired luxury mom and babycare retailer Motherswork, which has stores in Singapore, China, and soon Vietnam. The move combines the former’s regional reach of 30 million users with the latter’s offline presence.

“We [now] have a place to call home where we can say, ‘Come in, we’ll talk to you. We’ll give you the guidance that you need,” said Roshni Mahtani Cheung, group CEO of The Parentinc.

According to Motherswork founder and CEO Sharon Wong, one way in which the firm measures success is by whether “a first-time mother leaves [the store feeling] a little less overwhelmed.” Given that parenting is no walk in the park, I wish them – and all the parents they serve – all the success they need.

— Melissa Goh, journalist at Tech in Asia

Top stories this week

Image credit: Timmy Loen

1️. The Parentinc bets big on offline retail with Motherswork acquisition
The Parentinc, which operates community platform theAsianparent, can augment Motherswork’s data on mom purchasing behavior “in real time.”