Obby

What Obby does

Obby (legal entity Obbyco Ltd.) is a London-based two-sided marketplace that connects independent creative teachers with students seeking hands-on learning experiences across the United Kingdom. The platform aggregates more than 3,500 in-person classes, live online sessions, pre-recorded courses and physical learning kits spanning pottery, painting, jewellery making, woodworking, calligraphy, cooking, dance, terrarium making and related crafts. Obby was founded in 2015 by Tom Batting and Max, originally to solve difficulty finding local classes, and has since built a catalogue used by 50,000+ students with a 5-star rating across 10,500+ reviews.

The core technology is a web-based marketplace with integrated booking, calendar management and Stripe-powered payment processing. Teachers can list and manage classes directly, and may also embed an Obby booking widget on their own websites, allowing them to take direct bookings that sync automatically with the central marketplace. Discovery is driven by SEO-optimised class and location landing pages, a content blog targeting learners and teachers, and PR coverage in The Guardian, Time Out, The Times, Evening Standard and Forbes. Obby monetises primarily through commission on each marketplace booking, supplemented by subscription fees for teacher tools, gift card sales (redeemable across 2,500+ classes), physical learning kits priced at £23-£29, and corporate team-building events for clients including Google, YouTube, PayPal, Visa, Linklaters, Warner Bros and Sainsbury's. Distribution is UK-domestic, operated with a lean team of 1-10 employees from London. In December 2024, Obby was acquired by ClassBento, a creative workshops operator active in Australia, the UK and the US, integrating the platform into a larger multi-geography group.

Name

Obby

Legal name

Obbyco Ltd.

Website

https://obby.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Obby is a UK-based two-sided marketplace connecting independent creative teachers with students seeking hands-on learning experiences. Its platform hosts 3,500+ in-person, live online, and kit-based classes across disciplines such as pottery, painting, and woodworking, serving consumers and corporate clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Learning Marketplace

NAICS

Educational Services (611), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Instructor Marketplaces (Find-a-Teacher / Book-a-Class) (EDAFAIAD)

Keywords

• Creative learning marketplace
• Offline workshop platform
• Class booking marketplace
• Teacher booking software
• Creative education platform

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Marketplace Commission: Obby takes a commission on each class booking made through its marketplace platform. Teachers list their classes on Obby and pay a fee for bookings processed through the platform. The platform also offers teachers additional tools for a subscription fee.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Obby operates a two-sided online marketplace that connects independent creative teachers and small businesses with students seeking hands-on workshops and classes. The platform aggregates over 3,500 in-person, live online, and at-home creative learning experiences (pottery, painting, jewellery making, terrariums, woodworking, cooking, dance, calligraphy, candle making, etc.) across the UK, and provides teachers with booking management, payment processing via Stripe, calendar syncing, automated emails, and an embeddable booking widget for their own websites.

Product overview

Obby is a marketplace platform for creative learning experiences, offering over 3,500 unique in-person, live online, and at-home classes and workshops across the UK. The platform consists of the core Obby Marketplace connecting students with teachers, supplemented by a Teacher Platform providing all-in-one tools for class management, booking, payments, and marketing. Physical Learning Kits and Gift Cards extend the product ecosystem, while Live Online Classes and Pre-recorded Courses provide flexible learning formats. The Obby Blog serves as a content resource for the teacher and learner community. In December 2024, Obby was acquired by ClassBento.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Obby Marketplace

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 50,000 students have found classes through the marketplace
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 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

Integration1 record

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ClassBentocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 December 2024Obby has been acquired by ClassBento, a leader in creative workshops across Australia, the UK, and the US. The acquisition was announced in December 2024, with Obby becoming part of the ClassBento family. Since 2016, Obby has made it its mission to make creative courses simple and accessible, and now joins ClassBento to expand its reach.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• ClassBento: ClassBento is the direct peer and acquirer of Obby, operating an essentially identical two-sided marketplace for creative workshops across Australia, the UK, and the US. Both platforms curate independent teachers, take marketplace commissions, and sell gift cards and learning kits, making them the closest functional comparables.
• CourseHorse: CourseHorse is a US-focused marketplace aggregating in-person classes, workshops, and corporate team-building activities from independent providers. It is a direct functional analogue to Obby, with comparable B2C and B2B team-building use cases.
• TakeLessons: TakeLessons is an online and in-person instructor marketplace connecting students with independent teachers across creative and academic subjects. It uses a similar commission-based model and embedded teacher tools, making it a comparable peer in marketplace design.
• Superprof: Superprof is a global instructor marketplace operating across the UK, matching students with independent teachers for creative and academic subjects. Its two-sided marketplace mechanics, commission model, and embedded booking flow closely mirror Obby's.
• Italki: Italki is a global two-sided marketplace for booking independent teachers, with integrated scheduling, payments, and teacher profiles. While focused on languages, its marketplace architecture and embedded teacher tools are highly comparable to Obby's.
• Preply: Preply is a global instructor marketplace with embedded scheduling, video classroom, and teacher business tools. Although centred on language learning, its marketplace mechanics and supplier-onboarding flow overlap meaningfully with Obby's platform design.

Broad incumbents

• Airbnb Experiences: Airbnb Experiences is a broad incumbent offering hosted in-person creative workshops and classes alongside tours, food, and adventure activities. While not specialised in creative learning, it competes for the same teacher supply and consumer demand at massive global scale.
• Fever: Fever operates a large experiences marketplace across multiple countries, including creative workshops, tastings, and classes. It overlaps with Obby's supply-side recruitment of independent instructors and demand-side audience of urban experience-seekers.
• Eventbrite: Eventbrite is a broad ticketing and events platform that hosts in-person creative classes, workshops, and corporate events. It serves a similar teacher/organiser base and competes for both consumer bookings and corporate team-building demand.
• Meetup: Meetup is a large community platform where independent hosts organise in-person classes, workshops, and hobby groups. It overlaps with Obby's supply of community-led creative learning and competes for the same local-discovery SEO traffic.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/obbyuk
• Facebookfacebook.com/obbyuk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/obby

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors

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 Obby