Wellington startup PAM (Personal Administration Manager) has raised NZ$570,000 (A$502k) in the first close of its Seed round to help parents deal with the life admin of raising a family.
Initial support was led by Flying Kiwi Angels, with participation from Icehouse Ventures, Even Capital’s Sarah Park, Easy Crypto founder Janine Grainger, Foggy Valley, Wainot Investment and others. PAM is hoping to his $800k for its Seed round by the end of 2025.
Grainger, and Marsello founder Brent Spicer, will join with board, with angel investor Caro Williams a board observer.
Cofounder, CEO and Maori mum Nicole Retter launched PAM in February, having moved from marketing to startup founder in 2023.
This year the app overtook the apps that could lead you to having to deal with children, Tinder and Hinge, to top New Zealand’s Apple App Store, with more than 16,000 users.
PAM cofounders Diogo Freire and Nicole Retter. Image: Supplied
“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 amidst the pressure of Aotearoa’s Covid lockdowns.
“I just couldn’t keep all the balls in the air…and I realised I wasn’t alone,” she said.
“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.”
The funds will go towards cofounder and CTO Diogo Freire’s development team, as well as cracking the US market, starting with a Seattle test launch.
PAM uses AI to read comms – be it an email, screenshot, a voice memo of something in your head, or even a crumpled birthday invite in a school bag – turning it into an event, a reminder to RSVP, a nudge to buy a gift or a note to pack a costume – done automatically and with the appropriate family member tasked to the job.
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’s now preparing to shift PAM from a free app to a freemium subscription model in both New Zealand and the US. The goal is NZ$375k in monthly recurring revenue within 12 months, charging basic users will pay $15 per month, with discounts offered to existing users.
New signups will receive a two-week free trial and additional premium features will unlock as users deepen their engagement.
She’s also planning to introduce features such as shared grocery lists for families and flatmates, medication tracking to support daily routines and an SOS function to instantly notify members of a user’s ‘village’ when urgent help is needed – eg. for a last-minute school pickup.
“We want PAM to be much more than just a digital organiser. We’re building a product that revolutionises how families operate,” Retter said.
“We’ve proven the need, we’ve proven the impact – now it’s about scale. Our vision is for PAM to become the go-to family admin tool not just in New Zealand but globally. Every parent deserves less stress and more headspace.”
PAM is available on iOS and Android.
