What Koru Kids does

Koru Kids is a UK-based, tech-enabled childcare marketplace that matches families with vetted nannies and operates as the employer-of-record for those engagements. Founded in 2016 and headquartered at 128 City Road, London, the company serves dual-income working parents seeking reliable, flexible after-school, part-time, full-day, and holiday childcare across England, Scotland, and Wales, with operations in 35+ cities including London, Bristol, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Birmingham, and Manchester. The company claims 14,000+ families served, 10,000+ nannies on the platform, and 3.2M+ hours of childcare delivered, supported by 4.3-star Trustpilot and 4.5-star Google ratings.

The platform is built as a self-serve web application and mobile app through which parents search, message, schedule interviews, and hire nannies directly. Koru Kids vets applicants against a top-10% standard that includes DBS checks, reference verification, and bespoke online training with Paediatric First Aid. Once matched, the platform handles the full employer lifecycle: HMRC registration, pension regulator setup, employment contracts, ongoing payroll, holiday pay, and public liability insurance. The technology is workflow and marketplace tooling rather than AI-native architecture; no AI/ML capabilities are disclosed in available materials.

Koru Kids monetizes through an all-in hourly rate (parents pay a single bundled price covering nanny net pay, income tax, employee and employer National Insurance, pension contributions, holiday pay, and the Koru Kids service fee), a £199 one-off setup fee covering enhanced DBS and HMRC/pensions registration, and a four-week upfront payment that is refunded at contract end. Pricing tiers range from £16.50-£18.25/hour for under one year of experience up to £20.75+/hour for three or more years of professional experience, with a £1/hour surcharge on contracts under nine hours per week. The company was backed through approximately $17.7M in disclosed funding across 2017-2019 (seed, Series 1, and Series A led by Atomico), operates a wholly-owned subsidiary (Rua Kids Ltd), and has registered trademarks in both the UK and the US.

Name

Koru Kids

Legal name

KORU KIDS LTD

Website

https://korukids.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Koru Kids is a UK-based tech-enabled childcare marketplace that matches families with vetted nannies and acts as employer-of-record, handling contracts, payroll, and compliance across 35+ cities in England, Scotland, and Wales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Childcare Services

NAICS

Child Care Services (62441), Child Care Services (6244)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Live-Out Nanny Services (HSAAABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Temporary / Short-Term Nanny (Fill-In) Services (HSAAABAF), In-Home Nanny / Au Pair Before/After Care (Early Years) (EDACAHAG)

Keywords

• Childcare services
• Nanny matching platform
• After-school childcare
• Nanny employment services
• In-home childcare

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. All-in Hourly Rates: Service fee embedded in nanny hourly rates. Parents pay an all-in rate that includes nanny's net pay, income tax, employee NI, employer NI, pension contributions, holiday pay, and Koru Kids service fee. Company only earns when nannies work.
2. Set-up Fee: One-off £199 set-up fee charged the first time a family employs a nanny. Covers enhanced DBS check, HMRC registration, and pensions regulator setup.
3. Four Weeks Upfront Payment: Families pay four weeks' pay upfront when hiring a nanny, which is refunded when the contract ends.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Koru Kids is a tech-enabled childcare platform that matches UK families with vetted, DBS-checked nannies for after-school, part-time, full-day, and holiday care. The company provides a self-serve web and mobile platform covering search, messaging, and trial scheduling, and acts as employer-of-record handling HMRC registration, pension setup, employment contracts, payroll, and ongoing nanny training and support. Pricing is delivered through an all-inclusive hourly rate that bundles the nanny's gross pay, taxes, NI, pension contributions, and the Koru Kids service fee.

Product overview

Koru Kids is a tech-enabled childcare platform offering a portfolio of nanny services: after-school nannies (3+ hours/week for ages 3-12), part-time nannies (flexible mornings/afternoons for babies to school-age), full-day professional nannies (20+ hours for ages 0-4), and summer holiday nannies. The platform serves as both a matching service and employer of record, handling the full lifecycle from search and vetting through contracts, payroll, and ongoing support. Pricing is all-inclusive, bundling the nanny's gross pay, taxes, pension contributions, and Koru Kids' service fee. A £199 set-up fee covers enhanced DBS checks and HMRC registration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• After-School Nanny Service Part-time childcare service matching families with vetted nannies for school pick-up, homework help, dinner preparation, and activities, available from 3 hours per week for children ages 3-12.
• Part-Time Nanny Service Flexible in-home nanny childcare covering mornings, afternoons, or set days per week for children from babies to school age.
• Full-Day Nanny Service Professional career nanny placement for babies and toddlers requiring 20+ hours per week of in-home care, ages 0-4.
• Summer Holiday Nanny Service Vetted nannies available during school holidays to provide full-day childcare, covering camp pickups, local area exploration, and flexible care from £16.50 per hour per family.
• Nanny Tax and Employment Service Standalone employer-of-record service handling HMRC registration, pension setup, employment contracts, ongoing payroll management, and nanny training and support for families hiring a nanny.

Quantifiable outcome

• 14,000+ families helped find childcare
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Care.com: The largest global online marketplace for family care services (childcare, senior care, pet care, housekeeping). Comparable as the category-defining platform for matching families with caregivers, but operates at global scale across many verticals beyond nannies.

Direct peers

• UrbanSitter: US-based sitter and nanny marketplace with emphasis on verified profiles and parent networks. Comparable two-sided marketplace model targeting urban professional parents, useful proxy for tech-led category disruption.
• Sittercity: US-based online marketplace for babysitters, nannies, and sitters. Comparable as a two-sided matching platform for childcare with vetting and reviews — useful comp for Koru Kids' potential US expansion path.
• Tinies: Established UK nanny and maternity nurse agency with a national network. Directly comparable in target customer and service category, but uses a traditional placement-agency model rather than self-serve SaaS-style platform.
• Childcare.co.uk: UK's largest online childcare directory connecting families with nannies, childminders, and babysitters. Directly comparable in product (online nanny matching), geography (UK), and target customer (working parents).
• Norland Nannies: Iconic UK nanny placement agency affiliated with the Norland College. Comparable as a high-end UK nanny intermediary, though positioned at the premium end where Norland-trained nannies command higher fees than Koru Kids' typical pricing tiers.
• Kensington Nannies: Premium UK nanny placement agency, particularly strong in London. Comparable in serving professional dual-income families in London, but uses a traditional high-fee agency model rather than tech-enabled self-serve.
• Bubble: UK-based nursery and childcare marketplace app offering flexible, on-demand childcare bookings. Comparable in PLG self-serve model, UK geography, and modern tech-enabled UX displacing traditional agencies.
• NannyPoppins: UK nanny matching and placement service focused on full-time and live-in roles. Comparable as a UK-based nanny intermediary serving professional families, though more traditional agency-style than Koru Kids' self-serve model.

Regional players

• Yoopies: European childcare and household-services platform operating across France, UK, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Comparable as a nanny/babysitter matching platform; primarily Continental Europe-focused rather than UK, so competes less directly today.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/korukids
• Facebookfacebook.com/korukidslondon

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors8 records

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Koru Kids