Poppins

What Poppins does

Poppins is a London-based, privately held company founded in 2015 that operates a mobile-compatible marketplace enabling parents to find, book, review, and pay fully-vetted babysitters in their local area, including at short notice. The platform functions as a two-sided consumer marketplace in the on-demand childcare vertical, with vetting of caregivers positioned as the core value proposition for safety-conscious parents. The company's technology is a mobile web platform supporting Android and iOS browsers, focused on transactional booking, review, and payment flows rather than disclosed proprietary AI or advanced technology components.

The business model is consumer-to-consumer: parents transact with vetted babysitters through the platform, with implied revenue generation via service fees or take-rate on bookings (no pricing tiers, subscription models, or revenue figures are publicly disclosed). The company has 1-10 employees and remains narrowly focused on the London market, with no disclosed geographic expansion, institutional equity funding beyond a 2016 non-equity accelerator placement (MassChallenge), or formal sales infrastructure. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via the poppins.london web/app experience, with no third-party channels, enterprise customers, or formalized marketing programs disclosed. Leadership is anchored by co-founder Jonny Flynn, who serves as co-founder & creative director; no additional executive team or board composition is disclosed in the available data.

Name

Poppins

Legal name

OK9

Website

https://poppins.london

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Poppins is a London-based mobile platform, founded in 2015, that enables parents to find, book, review, and pay fully-vetted local babysitters, including on short notice.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Childcare Services Marketplace

NAICS

Child Care Services (62441)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Childcare & Eldercare Caregiving Platforms (BPAMAHAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

On-Call & Last-Minute Babysitting (HSAAAAAC), Temporary / Short-Term Nanny (Fill-In) Services (HSAAABAF)

Keywords

• Babysitter booking app
• Childcare marketplace
• Nanny booking platform
• Parent childcare services
• Vetted childcare providers

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Poppins is a London-based mobile application that enables parents to find, book, review and pay fully-vetted babysitters in their area, including at short notice. The platform operates as a two-sided marketplace, matching parent demand with background-checked childcare providers and handling account creation, identity checks, booking, deposits, in-app chat and post-stay reviews inside one product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Poppins Babysitter Booking App Mobile application for London parents to find, book, review and pay fully-vetted local babysitters, including at short notice, with account creation, identity and background verification, deposit handling, in-app chat, customer support and a review/rating engine built in.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Yoopies: European parental services platform covering babysitting, nannying, childminders, and tutoring across the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Overlaps directly with Poppins' UK babysitter offering and represents a broader, multi-category expansion path or competitor.
• Childcare.co.uk: UK-focused childcare directory and marketplace connecting parents with nannies, babysitters, childminders and nurseries. Operates directly in Poppins' core market with a similar trust-and-safety (vetting + reviews) value proposition.
• TrustedCare: UK care services marketplace covering childcare, nurseries and elder care. Overlaps with Poppins on UK parent/caregiver matchmaking and represents a domestic adjacent competitor in the parental services space.
• Bubble: London-based on-demand babysitter marketplace. Operates in the same category (UK babysitter booking), targets the same London parent customer, and competes on the same short-notice booking proposition Poppins emphasizes.

Broad incumbents

• Sittercity: Established US babysitter marketplace with longstanding brand authority, background-checked sitter database and recurring-booking features. Provides a benchmark for the trust-and-vetting playbook Poppins attempts to localize in London.
• UrbanSitter: US babysitter marketplace emphasizing sitter networks (pre-existing social ties) and parent reviews. Comparable in offering model and trust/safety positioning to Poppins, though at much larger US scale.
• Care.com: Global incumbent in family care marketplaces (childcare, senior care, pet care, housekeeping). Anchors the broader category Poppins operates in and represents the dominant benchmark for vetting, reviews and category brand-search traffic.

Others

• Helpling: On-demand home services platform (cleaning, laundry, handyman) covering the UK and Europe. Adjacent platform-shape competitor with similar mobile booking and vetting mechanics, useful as a structural benchmark rather than a direct childcare rival.

Regional players

• Sittr: Australia-based babysitter booking app focused on short-notice and recurring bookings. Mirrors Poppins's on-demand/short-notice positioning in a different geography, useful as a behavioral and product-design benchmark.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thepoppinsapp
• Facebookfacebook.com/poppinsapp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/poppins-app

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 Poppins