hood's mission is to make parenting easier. Full stop.
A few years ago, Abbéy took his daughter on their first holiday abroad together. Two days in, she got sick. In a foreign country and unknown city, Abbéy found himself standing in a hotel lobby trying to find the nearest paediatrician. He didn't just want to know what was open and how to get there: he wanted to know where the parents who actually lived there would go and whom they would trust with their child's care.
That moment stuck with him as he realised that he had been — and would continue to be — dealing with this problem for years. The tools and resources available for raising a kid in a modern city are built for everyone except the people raising that kid. Parents end up doing the work of pulling it all together themselves: every weekend, every trip, every "what should we do today?"
That was the start of hood.
We want hood to be the tool you can't imagine parenting without.
hood is a discovery and planning app for parents. You open it, you find something worth doing this weekend, you make a plan.
We know that the problem is not a lack of options — it's that there are too many options, scattered across too many places. We're bringing all of that information together in one place: community events, cultural venues, workshops and classes, and all of the best independent spaces that your neighbourhood has to offer.
For parents, that means less searching and more living.
For those running events and venues, it means real access to the families they want to welcome to their space.
We're piloting this summer in East London before expanding to other boroughs. Our logic is simple: if hood isn't indispensable in one part of London, we haven't earned the right to be anywhere else. And we don't measure success by downloads, but planned moments — every event saved, trip booked, and weekend shaped is a win.
Abbéy Odunlami, PhD — Co-founder & CEO
Abbéy founded hood from lived frustration as much as professional conviction. He's the parent whose hotel-lobby moment started all of this — and his PhD gave him the language to explain why what he felt was structural, not personal. His research looked at how people navigate cities: the spatial, social, and psychological reasons we end up going to one place over another. That research is the bones of hood — discovery is a behavioural problem, not a content one. Before hood, Abbéy worked across brand strategy, product, and creative direction. He leads our product vision, investor conversations, and the feel of the brand.
Nadya Harrison — Co-founder & COO
Nadya joined as COO in 2024, bringing a decade of experience across business operations, quality, and governance. She runs the operational core of hood and, as someone who is passionate about building community, also leads on our vendor relationships. A true type A, she's out to prove you can have it all, from book clubs and board games to marathons and motherhood.
Abbéy holds the vision; Nadya holds the build. Neither half would work alone.
