Lillio

What Lillio does

Lillio (formerly HiMama) is a Toronto-based SaaS company founded in 2013 that provides an all-in-one childcare management platform to early childhood education (ECE) centers, preschools, and home-based daycare operators. The platform unifies attendance tracking with contactless check-in and ratio alerts, parent communication via real-time photos, videos, and daily updates pushed through iOS and Android mobile apps, billing and tuition payments, daily reports replacing paper documentation, and child development observations tied to customizable frameworks including Montessori and Ontario ELECT/OEFL. Bundled proprietary content includes the Funshine Express standards-aligned curriculum and Lillio Academy, a CDA-aligned professional development offering through which 25,000 CEUs have been distributed to date.

Underlying technology is a cloud-based, responsive web application plus native iOS and Android apps, hosted on Amazon Web Services with SSL/TLS in transit, encryption at rest, continuous vulnerability scanning, external penetration testing, and alignment with OWASP ASVS and PCI DSS standards. Multi-site operators gain centralized oversight across locations from a single login. The platform is positioned as a social-purpose business under co-founders Ron Spreeuwenberg and Alana Frome, supported by a content and community engine that includes a 100,000+ subscriber monthly ECE newsletter, The Preschool Podcast, a webinar program, and an extensive blog.

The business model is B2B SaaS subscription, with annual billing and custom pricing quoted by center size and feature requirements (no public price list). The company reports 35,000+ childcare programs as customers with a 4.9-star average rating, and cumulative usage of 2.1 billion moments shared with families and 500,000 curriculum kits delivered. Go-to-market combines a product-led motion anchored by the free consumer mobile app with an enterprise field and inside sales motion for multi-site and large operators, supported by a Request-a-Demo conversion path across all web properties. Current operations are limited to the United States and Canada, and no public funding rounds, acquisitions, or controlling parent company are disclosed.

Name

Lillio

Legal name

Lillio Inc.

Website

https://lillio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Lillio is a Toronto-based SaaS company providing an all-in-one childcare management platform for 35,000+ early childhood education centers, combining attendance tracking, billing, parent communication, curriculum delivery (Funshine Express), and professional development (Lillio Academy) in a single cloud-based system.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Childcare Management Software

NAICS

Child Care Services (62441), Child Care Services (624410)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Drop-In / Flexible Childcare Centers (EDACAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Center-Based Toddler Care (18–36 months) (EDACAGAB), Extended Day Programs at Preschools & Childcare Centers (EDACAHAB)

Keywords

• Childcare management software
• Parent communication platform
• Childcare billing software
• Early childhood curriculum
• Educator professional development

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, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription (Childcare Center Licenses): Lillio operates primarily as a SaaS subscription business. Childcare centers, preschools, and early learning programs pay recurring subscription fees for access to the full platform (attendance, billing, communication, curriculum, and professional development tools). Pricing is customized based on center size and needs and requires a quote — no public pricing is listed on the website.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Lillio is a cloud-based SaaS childcare management platform that enables early childhood education centers, preschools, and daycare programs to manage operations including attendance tracking, tuition billing and payments, real-time parent communication with photo and video sharing, developmentally appropriate curriculum delivery, and educator professional development. The platform is accessed via responsive web application and native iOS and Android apps, serving over 35,000 childcare programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 35,000+ childcare centers and programs use Lillio, reviewed with a 4.9-star average rating.
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers9 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

Integration7 records

Feature9 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Jackrabbit Care: Jackrabbit Care extends the Jackrabbit class-management platform into childcare with enrollment, billing, and communication features — partially overlapping Lillio's core workflow but more focused on enrichment/after-school segments.

Broad incumbents

• Procare Solutions: Procare is a long-established, broadly-scoped childcare management platform serving centers, multi-site operators, and after-school programs across the U.S. It overlaps heavily with Lillio in billing, attendance, and family engagement but covers a wider product footprint.

Direct peers

• Kangarootime: Kangarootime provides childcare management software focused on parent engagement, billing, and center operations for daycare and preschool programs, competing with Lillio in the same SMB-to-mid-market segment.
• Educa: Educa is a childcare-focused platform emphasizing child development observations, portfolios, and family communication — directly overlapping Lillio's documentation and parent-engagement capabilities for early childhood programs.
• Daily Connect: Daily Connect offers daycare and preschool management tools including daily reports, parent communication, attendance, and billing, positioning it as a direct functional peer to Lillio's SMB-focused offerings.
• ChildPilot: ChildPilot is a childcare management platform offering tuition billing, attendance, family communication, and center administration — competing with Lillio for the same SMB daycare and preschool segment.
• Eleyo: Eleyo provides childcare and before/after-school program management software with registration, billing, and family engagement features that directly overlap with Lillio's core functionality.
• Brightwheel: Brightwheel is the leading direct competitor in childcare management software, serving daycare and preschool centers with a similar communication, billing, attendance, and parent-engagement feature set. It competes head-to-head with Lillio for the same SMB and multi-site ECE customers.
• MomentPath: MomentPath delivers childcare-focused daily reporting, photo/video sharing, and parent communication tools that closely mirror Lillio's core family engagement and documentation features.
• Sandbox Software: Sandbox Software is a Canadian childcare management provider offering center management, billing, and parent communication tools to early learning programs, making it a close geographic and functional peer to Lillio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@lillioearlyed
• Facebookfacebook.com/lillioearlyed
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lillio
• Instagraminstagram.com/lillioearlyed

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

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 Lillio