LiveKid, a Krakow-based preschool and nursery management platform and parent-to-kindergarten contact app, has raised $3.36 million (€3.14 million) in a fresh funding round led by Inovo VC.
Founded in 2017 by Jakub Pawelski, LiveKid offers an all-in-one preschool and nursery management platform. It provides all the tools needed for smooth kindergarten operations and communication with parents, including billing, staff management, admissions, meal planning, e-journals, bulletin boards, galleries and reports. The platform also proves invaluable in payment management, from setting up charge schemes through the billing system to mobile payments for parents.
On the other hand, parents have access to an easy-to-use mobile app that contains all of their children’s preschool education and care information in one place. They use it to quickly pay tuition, submit absences, communicate with staff about food preferences or allergies, or monitor their children’s daily activities.
Speaking about the platform, Founder & CEO of LiveKid, Jakub Pawelsi, said:
Six years ago, LiveKid created a new category of digital services and products for preschool childcare in Poland. Since then, we’ve grown in a capital-efficient way. This includes making a strong entry into Mexico with limited resources. We aim to be a global leader, which needs bold steps. The fresh funds will help us hire more people in Mexico to grow in current and new markets, with the opportunity to consolidate the market.
LiveKid’s latest funding will help accelerate its growth. It aims to expand in Latin America and will continue to grow in Europe. In 2024, the startup will open an office in Mexico, employing 20 people. They will join the European team of 70, working from the Kraków, Poland, and Barcelona, Spain offices. The company also intends to introduce the Portuguese language to the platform (following English, German, Polish, Spanish, and Ukrainian) and expand to Portugal and Brazil.
Beyond academia, LiveKid offers payment management services, including establishing charges, a comprehensive billing system, and mobile payment options. The platform simplifies the lives of more than 400,000 parents whose children attend over 3,500 kindergartens and nurseries. It processes over €150 million in payments for tuition fees and other kindergarten services annually. The company generates over €3 million in ARR, with the most significant markets being Poland, Spain, and Mexico. Its growth has been primarily organic but recently fueled by acquisitions in Canada, Poland, and Spain, including Barcelona-based Dinantia.
Michał Rokosz, Partner, Inovo VC, commented:
We have known Kuba for several years and have been following his progress practically since the beginning of the company. He is a founder who is genuinely passionate about the problem being solved. This is evident in every aspect of the company’s operations, particularly in emphasising high-quality customer service. LiveKid is also a company with very high capital efficiency. They managed to grow to a significant scale with just one funding round. Kuba and his team are close to winning the Polish market while being well on their way to replicating their success in Spain and Mexico. Once they achieve a dominant position in the market, businesses of the vertical SaaS type are very profitable and can maintain their position for a long time.
The recent fundraising is the company’s second from external investors, following a €2.1 million round in 2021. Before that, it had grown solely through revenue reinvestment.
