Pogo has already launched a beta. (Photo via Pogo)
Pogo has already launched a beta. (Photo via Pogo)

Seattle-based Pogo got a $1 million boost this week after winning a top prize in Verizon’s Powerful Answers Award contest.

The startup is building an app that uses technology to help parents build better carpooling networks. It was founded in 2014 and, with the help of this cash infusion, plans to release its app in early 2016.

The idea is to give parents the information they need to share more rides. Pogo can be used to coordinate existing carpools with features like messaging and calendar notifications. But it can also be used like a social network to help parents discover new trusted neighbors who have open seats in their cars.

If parents can’t find a free ride in their network, Pogo offers an Uber-like driver service that users can pay for as a backup. The company says it screens its professional drivers, monitors rides and lets parents track their kids with GPS.

Pogo“We believe technology can be a force to build connection, ease logistics, and provide information that enables trust,” Pogo says on its website.

The company was co-founded by CEO Melissa Lehman, along with former Microsoft employees Kaveh Ghadianipour and John Glover.

A company spokesman said Pogo has already released a beta version of the app to less than 100 users in the Seattle area, but declined to get into too many specifics since the startup isn’t fully launched yet. He added that before the Verizon contest, the company had only raised a small amount of money from the founding team.

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