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Online childcare marketplace KindiCare is aiming to capture more of the Australian market after raising $3.3 million in a seed round led by property tech leader Domain Group (ASX: DHG).
While the backing makes Domain the largest single investor, KindiCare founder and CEO Benjamin Balk is retaining his majority stake in the company.
Based in Sydney, the platform is using the funds to help roll out new features for childcare providers in addition to growing its market share.
“The KindiCare app was developed to cut through all the complexity of finding childcare and simplify the journey for families searching for early learning services,” Balk said.
“I saw an opportunity to create a user experience that offered the same level of sophistication that you find in marketplaces in other sectors such as property, cars, food and hotels.
“There are more than 1 million families using early education and childcare services in Australia, each of them facing the same level of frustration that we experienced as a family in our own early learning journey.”
Founded in 2020, Kindi-care is a two-way platform that connects families with more than 7,000 childcare providers and allows them to compare the price and ratings of centres nearby.
The company is currently rolling out new features for KindiCare CRM – which allows childcare providers to verify, update and manage their listing on the marketplace.
As part of its partnership with DHG, KindiCare has signed a data licence agreement that will enable Domain users to view local childcare centres and KindiCare’s rating system alongside property listings via Domain’s app and website.
The same will also be applied vice versa, allowing KindiCare users to see property listings across its entire platform.
“We know that childcare and schools play an important role for parents when searching for a home to buy or rent. Aligning with KindiCare complements Domain’s leading school zones search feature,” Domain chief product officer Nathan Brumby said.
KindiCare anticipates visits to the site and app will exceed 1 million visits by the end of the year.
“The speed at which KindiCare has become dominant in its sector is impressive and we welcome the opportunity to be part of its future expansion," Brumby added.
The announcement comes a day after early education provider Only About Children was sold to US operator Early Horizons for $450 million and more than a month after G8 Education purchased a 20 per cent stake in on-demand babysitting app Kiddo.
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