HiMama

What HiMama does

HiMama, founded in 2013 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, operates commercially as Lillio following a 2024 rebrand. The company sells a cloud-based SaaS platform that helps licensed childcare centers and preschools manage daily operations, communicate with families, deliver curriculum, process billing and payments, and support educator professional development. The product is delivered via web and native iOS/Android applications, and is structured as an integrated suite of modules — center management, family engagement, billing, curriculum and lesson planning, digital daily reports, and Lillio Academy for CEU-bearing professional development — rather than a collection of point tools. The company has built a proprietary content library including 500K curriculum kits and 25K CEUs, and adds depth through acquired content (FunShine Express, 2021; Daily Childcare Report, 2017).

Revenue is generated primarily through quote-based SaaS subscriptions billed annually, with tiering by center size, number of classrooms, and feature requirements. The company employs a hybrid go-to-market: a product-led growth motion with self-serve free trials for small and mid-market centers, paired with an enterprise field sales motion — formalized after the 2021 Bain Capital Double Impact investment — that pursues multi-location operators such as YMCAs and national childcare chains. Customer segments include SMB childcare centers (the bulk of the base), enterprise multi-location operators, and home daycare providers, all in North America (U.S. and Canada). Distribution is reinforced by a content-led marketing engine comprising an early learning blog, The Preschool Podcast, webinars, free templates, and a free "How to Open a Daycare" ebook that drive organic top-of-funnel demand from the early childhood education community. The platform reports 35,000+ customer reviews, 2.1B family moments shared, and a 4.9-star average rating, indicating a large installed base of childcare programs.

Name

HiMama

Legal name

HiMama Inc.

Website

https://himama.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

HiMama (operating as Lillio) is a Toronto-based SaaS company that provides childcare centers, preschools, and families with an integrated platform for center management, parent communication, billing, curriculum, and educator professional development across North America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Childcare Management Software

NAICS

Child Care Services (6244), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Center-Based Infant Care (0–18 months) (EDACAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Home-Based Infant & Toddler Care (Family Daycare) (EDACAGAD)

Keywords

• Childcare management software
• Early childhood education
• Parent communication platform
• Daycare billing software
• Curriculum planning tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription: Monthly or annual subscription-based pricing for childcare centers accessing the platform, with tiered plans based on center size and feature requirements. Revenue is recurring in nature with typical land-and-expand dynamics as centers grow.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

HiMama (operating as Lillio) provides a cloud-based SaaS childcare management platform that enables licensed childcare centers and preschools to manage center operations, engage families, deliver developmentally appropriate curriculum, process tuition billing and payments, and support professional development for educators. The platform includes native iOS and Android mobile apps for parent and educator access, and serves over 35,000 childcare programs across North America.

Product overview

HiMama operates as Lillio, a comprehensive childcare management platform offering a unified suite of integrated modules. The core Lillio platform encompasses center management, family engagement tools, curriculum and lesson planning, billing and payments, and professional development through Lillio Academy. The platform is augmented by supplementary resources including Lillio Activities for classroom activities, digital and printable daily reports, free templates for childcare operations, educational webinars, The Preschool Podcast, and a free eBook on opening a daycare. The company also offers a mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Lillio serves childcare centers, educators, directors/owners, and families across North America.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lillio Childcare Management Platform (formerly HiMama) All-in-one cloud-based SaaS platform for licensed childcare centers, preschools, and home daycare providers that combines center management, family engagement, tuition billing and payments, curriculum and lesson planning, and digital daily reporting into a single solution with native iOS and Android apps.
• Lillio Academy Online professional development course library for early childhood educators delivering research-based training with continuing education units (CEUs), enabling educators to advance their credentials and apply learning directly in the classroom.

Quantifiable outcome

• Saves childcare directors an average of 5 hours per week through digital daily reporting
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Direct peers

• brightwheel: brightwheel is the most direct competitor to Lillio, offering a similarly all-in-one SaaS platform for childcare centers covering parent communication, daily reports, billing, and attendance. Both target center-based childcare operators across North America with a PLG + enterprise hybrid motion.
• Procare Solutions: Procare is one of the largest US childcare management software providers, offering center management, billing, family engagement, and tuition processing to licensed childcare programs. It directly overlaps Lillio's product scope and customer base.
• LifeCubby: LifeCubby provides a childcare management platform with daily reports, parent communication, lesson planning, and developmental observations for early childhood programs. It serves a similar SMB childcare audience and competes in the same daily-reporting/parent-engagement niche.
• Sandbox Learning (Sandbox Software): Sandbox provides childcare center management software including parent communication, billing, and curriculum/lesson planning tools for early childhood programs. It competes directly with Lillio across center management and family engagement modules.
• EZCare: EZCare offers childcare management software covering attendance, billing, family engagement, and state reporting for licensed childcare centers. It targets a similar SMB-to-mid-market ECE audience and competes on center management workflows and parent communication.

Emerging players

• Jackrabbit Technologies: Jackrabbit provides class management, billing, and parent communication software primarily for children's activity businesses (gymnastics, swim, music) with growing overlap into childcare center operations. Its enrollment, billing, and family communication features overlap with Lillio's billing and engagement modules.
• Illumine: Illumine is an emerging childcare management platform offering parent communication, daily reports, billing, and lesson planning to preschools and daycare operators. It targets the same SMB childcare segment as Lillio with a comparable feature set and PLG approach.

Broad incumbents

• FACTS (FACTS/Renweb): FACTS provides K-12 and school administrative software with adjacent capabilities in family communication, billing, and student information. While focused on K-12 rather than licensed childcare, its billing and family-engagement modules overlap with Lillio's feature set.

Regional players

• Tadika: Tadika is a childcare management platform focused on Southeast Asian preschools and daycare operators. While geographically distinct from Lillio's North American footprint, it addresses the same center-management, parent-engagement, and billing use cases.
• Hi Rasmus / BUK: Hi Rasmus (and adjacent tools like BUK in the Nordics) are regional childcare management platforms covering parent communication, daily reporting, and billing for licensed daycare operators. They compete with Lillio's core modules but serve primarily European markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@lillioearlyed
• Facebookfacebook.com/himamaapp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/himama
• Instagraminstagram.com/lillioearlyed
• Xx.com/himamaapp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HiMama