Tohula

What Tohula does

Touhula is a Finnish private early childhood education provider headquartered in Oulu, operating 113 themed daycare centers across 39 municipalities and serving approximately 7,000 children with a workforce of around 2,000 employees. Founded in 2010, the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Swedish-listed education group AcadeMedia (Nasdaq Stockholm) on March 1, 2024, and is Finland's second largest private daycare chain by number of centers. Each center follows a differentiated pedagogical theme (movement, adventure, nature, arts, language, or science) intended to enrich standard early childhood education for children aged approximately 10 months to 5-6 years.

The core technology asset is TouGo, a proprietary mobile and web application that provides a communication channel between daycare staff and families, including daily photos, weekly newsletters, care time reservations, and absence notifications. The company has invested in operational platforms including an online application portal, GDPR-compliant data processing, and Finnish whistleblowing compliance under legislation 1171/2022. Additional programmatic offerings include the Roihu leadership development program launched in August 2025 and the Mini-Touhula family club launched in January 2026 in Oulu, both aimed at talent development and community engagement respectively.

Touhula operates on a B2B2C model: Finnish municipalities issue service vouchers (palveluseteli) that fund the majority of the cost, while families pay an income- and family-size-based co-payment ranging from approximately €30 to €365 per month. Distribution combines the municipal voucher channel, direct online applications via touhula.fi, and in-person enrollment at individual centers. End-customers are Finnish families, with municipalities acting as the critical B2B funding intermediaries. Touhula holds Vihreä lippu (Green Flag) environmental education certification and is organized through eight wholly-owned operating subsidiaries (Touhula Ilo Oy, Nauru Oy, Hymy Oy, Virne Oy, Riemu Oy, Onni Oy, Huvi Oy, and Hassu Oy). The company reports a Net Promoter Score of 63 in its April 2026 customer satisfaction survey and describes employee satisfaction as at all-time high levels.

Name

Tohula

Legal name

Touhula Leikki Oy

Website

https://touhula.fi

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Touhula is Finland's second largest private daycare chain, operating 113 themed early childhood education centers across 39 municipalities for approximately 7,000 children. Founded in 2010 in Oulu, it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Swedish-listed AcadeMedia, funded through the municipal service voucher system and family co-payments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early Childhood Education & Daycare Services

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Day Childcare Centers (EDACAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Part-Day Childcare Centers (EDACAAAB), Full-Day Nursery Programs (EDACACAD)

Keywords

• Private daycare services
• Early childhood education
• Preschool child care
• Day care centers
• Early education Finland

Headquarters

HQ city

Oulu

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Early Childhood Education Services: Revenue generated through municipal service vouchers combined with customer co-payments. Most activities are based on the service voucher model, making private daycare equally available to all families regardless of income or family size. Families pay customer fees determined by family size, income, and childcare hours.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Touhula operates a network of 113 private early childhood education (daycare) centres across 39 Finnish municipalities, serving approximately 7,000 children aged ~10 months to 5-6 years with theme-based pedagogy (movement, adventure, nature, arts, language, science). The company also provides the proprietary TouGo mobile and web application that enables real-time communication between daycare staff and families, including daily photos, weekly letters, care time reservations, and absence notifications. Services are funded through Finnish municipal service vouchers combined with family co-payments.

Product overview

Touhula operates a network of 113 private early childhood education (daycare) centres across 39 municipalities in Finland, making it Finland's second-largest private daycare chain. Founded in 2010 in Oulu and part of AcadeMedia since March 2024, Touhula serves approximately 7,000 children with around 2,000 employees. Each daycare centre has a thematic focus (movement, adventure, arts, language, nature, or science) that enriches early childhood education activities. The core digital product is TouGo, Touhula's proprietary mobile and web application providing real-time communication between daycare centres and families, including daily photos, weekly newsletters, care time reservations, and absence notifications. Additional offerings include the Roihu leadership development programme for staff and the Mini-Touhula family club for community outreach.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TouGo: Proprietary mobile application for communication between daycare centres and families, enabling care time reservations, absence notifications, and daily updates.

Products and services

• Touhula Daycare Centres (Touhula-päiväkodit) A network of 113 private early childhood education (daycare) centres across 39 municipalities in Finland. Each centre has a themed focus (movement, adventure, arts, language, nature, or science) and serves children from approximately 10 months to 5-6 years old, generally operating Monday–Friday 6:00–17:00. Services are funded through Finnish municipal service vouchers combined with family co-payments.
• TouGo Mobile and Web Application Proprietary communications channel between Touhula daycare centres and families. Delivers photos from the child's day, weekly letters, care time reservations, and absence notifications. Available via mobile app (iOS/Android) and web browser at tougo.fi for families enrolled in Touhula daycare services.

Quantifiable outcome

• NPS (Net Promoter Score) of 63 in April 2026 customer satisfaction survey
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AcadeMediacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2024Touhula became part of Swedish AcadeMedia from March 1st, 2024. AcadeMedia is a listed leading Nordic education company operating from pre-schools to adult education in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, and Great Britain. This is one of Europe's largest education organizers. The acquisition provides Touhula with backing from a major European education group while maintaining its Finnish operations and identity.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• G8 Education: Major Australian-listed childcare center operator. Comparable to Touhula as a scaled multi-site private daycare network, though operating under the Australian government-subsidy framework rather than Finnish service vouchers.
• Bright Horizons Family Solutions: Global leader in employer-sponsored childcare and early education with thousands of centers. Comparable to Touhula as a multi-site private daycare operator, though much larger and operating primarily in North America and the UK.
• Busy Bees: One of the UK's largest private nursery and childcare operators with hundreds of centers. Comparable to Touhula as a multi-site private daycare chain, though geographically focused on the UK market.
• Nord Anglia Education: International premium schools group offering early years through K-12 across multiple countries. Comparable to Touhula in the early-childhood education segment, though operating at much higher price points and broader geographic scale.

Others

• AcadeMedia: Touhula's parent company and a listed Nordic education group operating preschools through adult education across six European countries. Sister brands within AcadeMedia provide direct comparability on operational model and Nordic private-daycare economics.

Direct peers

• Pilke Päiväkodit: Finnish private daycare chain operating a multi-site network of early childhood education centers across Finland. Direct competitor to Touhula in the same product category, serving similar families via the municipal service voucher model.
• Mehiläinen: Large Finnish private healthcare and care services group that also operates daycare centers. Overlaps with Touhula in Finnish private early childhood education, with similar funding mechanisms and customer base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC0kVz1qVbQgVrQo9v1oWZVw
• Facebookfacebook.com/PaivakotiTouhula
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/touhula-varhaiskasvatus-oy
• Instagraminstagram.com/touhula_paivakodit
• Xx.com/TouhulaPK

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries8 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 Tohula