Sometimes you just wake up with a new business idea. But for Mizzen+Main Co-Founder and CEO Kevin Lavelle, first he had to wake up with a baby in a nearby nursery room—and a lost signal in between them.

That frustrating experience with a lost connection to “the leading baby camera on the market” led Lavelle to research the issue. Deciding that app-based systems can’t be relied upon to be “a true baby monitor,” he eventually co-founded Harbor, a Dallas-based infant care tech company with a “smarter” baby monitor solution, backed by a Remote Night Nanny service for extra parent reassurance.

Seed round led by Trust Ventures, joined by Morrison Seger and Capital Factory

With its monitor and service poised to launch next month, Harbor has announced raising a $3.7 million seed funding round led by Trust Ventures, with backing by Morrison Seger and Capital Factory. The new round follows Trust Ventures pre-seed investment in September 2022. Additional notable participants for the seed round include former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow and his wife, Demi-Leigh Tebow; retired professional tennis player John Isner and his wife, jewelry designer Madison McKinley Isner; New York Jets punter (and former SMU punter and place kicker) Thomas Morstead and his wife, Lauren Morstead; and entrepreneurs Sam and Sara Sodine Parr.

Harbor baby monitor streams with or without internet

Working with Harbor Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Charlie Hill, Lavelle says he began an “intensive product development cycle” to “revolutionize” things that had been overlooked in the infant monitoring space.

The result? The Harbor baby monitor, which launches next month with local and remote access that streams with or without internet; a high-quality camera that streams in 2K; “best-in-class data privacy assurance,” split screen capabilities to monitor up to four children, and Smart Audio, “a more considered and helpful alerting system.”

Remote Night Nanny service offers ‘eyes-on expertise’

Along with their new baby monitor, the co-founders will be launching a new Remote Night Nanny service. Harbor says the service will deliver “all-night, eyes-on expertise and coaching” from professionally trained infant experts. The service will be available to families “for a fraction of the cost of traditional night nannies and infant care programs,” the startup says.

Harbor said it’s partnering with “pediatric sleep experts” as its Remote Night Nannies, offering remote nanny services for $20 a night, “compared to the traditional $400–$700/night fees.”

Other telehealth services offered by Harbor will include lactation and postpartum counseling and sleep and wellness coaching, the startup said, and will feature “accessible pricing” as well.

Seed round will help Harbor ‘launch to the world’

Lavelle said the $3.7 seed round will help Harbor “launch to the world,” while fulfilling its mission to create “happier parents and healthier families, one restful night at a time.”

“We’re democratizing access to sleep expertise and improving family wellness,” Lavelle added in a statement. “Technology should make our lives better. Today’s solutions increase anxiety in an already overwhelming and difficult time where we should be able to focus on our little ones. Parents and kids deserve a secure, reliable, quality baby monitor, and since none exist, Harbor has built just that.”

Thomas Morstead, the Jets punter and Harbor investor, said his investment came from personal experience.

“Lauren and I care deeply about raising a happy, healthy family, and we’re thrilled to back what the team at Harbor is doing,” Morstead said in a statement. “We’ve experienced so much raising our kids and know Harbor will make a huge difference for parents everywhere.”

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