Touhula paivakodit

What Touhula paivakodit does

Touhula-päiväkodit operates a chain of 113 private daycare centers across 39 Finnish municipalities, serving approximately 7,000 children aged 0-6 with a workforce of around 2,000 employees. Founded in 2010 in Oulu and headquartered in Oulu and Helsinki, Touhula is Finland's second-largest private daycare chain. Its core offering is themed early childhood education and care under Finnish national curriculum, with specialization tracks in movement, adventure, arts, nature and language (including bilingual StarBright centers). Customers are primarily Finnish families with young children; daily operations rely on the proprietary TouGo mobile application for parent communication, weekly newsletters, photo sharing, care time reservations and absence notifications.

Touhula monetizes through the Finnish municipal service voucher model, in which municipalities subsidize private daycare costs and parents pay a means-tested co-payment (€0-€385/month depending on region, family size, income and hours). Service vouchers are accepted in 39 municipalities, and the application process is self-serve via the ePalvelu portal at touhula.epalvelu.fi. Distribution is direct-to-consumer through owned center locations plus digital channels (website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn), with offline family-club activities (Mini-Touhula) used for top-of-funnel acquisition and word-of-mouth referrals driving demand.

From March 1, 2024, Touhula has operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of AcadeMedia, a listed Swedish Nordic education group operating from pre-schools to adult education in Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Great Britain. The legal entity Touhula Leikki Oy (Y-tunnus 2334458-6) sits alongside operating subsidiaries (Touhula Ilo Oy, Nauru Oy, Hymy Oy, Virne Oy, Riemu Oy, Onni Oy, Huvi Oy, Hassu Oy) and a service provider entity Touhula Varhaiskasvatus Oy. Recent strategic activity includes the August 2025 launch of the Roihu leadership development program, the January 2026 launch of the Mini-Touhula family club in Oulu, and continued integration of AcadeMedia corporate governance policies including GDPR and EU Whistleblowing Directive compliance.

Name

Touhula paivakodit

Legal name

Touhula Leikki Oy

Website

https://touhula.fi

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Touhula-päiväkodit is Finland's second-largest private daycare chain, operating 113 themed early childhood education centers across 39 municipalities and serving approximately 7,000 children aged 0-6 through a municipal service voucher model, with the proprietary TouGo mobile app for parent communication. The company has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sweden's AcadeMedia since March 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early Childhood Education and Care Services

NAICS

Child Care Services (62441)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Day Childcare Centers (EDACAAAA)

Keywords

• Early childhood education
• Private daycare services
• Preschool education
• Childcare day care
• Themed daycare programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Oulu

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices40 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Early Childhood Education Services: Revenue generated through service voucher model where municipalities subsidize private daycare costs. Families pay a customer fee determined by family size, income, and childcare hours. Additional fees may apply at some locations.
2. Municipal Service Vouchers: Most Touhula activities are based on service voucher model where municipalities provide funding, making private early childhood education equally available to all families regardless of income or family size.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Touhula-päiväkodit operates private early childhood education and care services through 113 themed daycare centers located in 39 Finnish municipalities, serving roughly 7,000 children with approximately 2,000 staff. Each center follows one of five specialized themes — movement, adventure, arts, nature, or language — delivering Finnish-curriculum-based pedagogy for children aged roughly 0–6 (including preschool and before/after-school care). The proprietary TouGo mobile and web application mediates daily parent-daycare communication (photos, weekly letters, care-time reservations, absence notifications) and the company runs free Mini-Touhula family clubs as a community onboarding channel.

Product overview

Touhula-päiväkodit operates as Finland's second largest private daycare chain with 113 daycare centers across 39 municipalities. The core offering consists of early childhood education and care services supplemented by TouGo, a proprietary mobile application for family communication. Themed daycare programs (Movement, Adventure, Arts, Language, Nature) provide specialized pedagogical approaches. Additional services include Mini-Touhula family clubs and internal leadership development through the Roihu program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TouGo: Mobile application for communication between daycare centres and families. Used for care time reservations, absence notifications, and daily updates about children.
• Roihu
• Mini-Touhula

Products and services

• Touhula-päiväkodit (Early Childhood Education and Care Services) Private early childhood education and care services delivered through 113 themed daycare centers in 39 Finnish municipalities, organized around five pedagogical themes (movement, adventure, arts, nature, language) and including preschool, before/after-school care, and family club activities for children aged 0–6.
• TouGo Mobile Application Proprietary mobile and web application available on iOS, Android, and browser that serves as the communication channel between Touhula daycare centers and families, enabling daily photo sharing, weekly letters, care time reservations, and absence notifications.
• StarBright Bilingual Daycare (Oulu) Specialized bilingual daycare offering at the StarBright Touhula center in Oulu, priced €50–€385/month, providing early education in two languages.

Quantifiable outcome

• NPS 63 - Customer satisfaction score of 63 in Spring 2026
• +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

Integration10 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AcadeMediacoreOthers · 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. Touhula follows AcadeMedia's corporate policies including whistleblowing procedures.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Daghemmet Barnsens / Kindful: Finnish private daycare operator offering municipally co-funded ECEC in multiple Finnish cities. Closely comparable in revenue model (service vouchers) and full-day center format to Touhula.
• Pilke päiväkodit: One of Finland's largest private daycare chains, operating numerous Munapirtti, Linnunlaulu and other branded centers across Finnish municipalities. Directly comparable to Touhula in scale, service-voucher model and full-day ECEC positioning.
• Porvoon kansainvälinen päiväkoti / similar Finnish private chains: Network of Finnish-bilingual and private daycare centers operating under municipal service-voucher funding. Comparable niche (premium, language-immersive ECEC) overlapping with Touhula's StarBright and language-themed centers.

Broad incumbents

• Bright Horizons Family Solutions: Global publicly listed operator of early childhood education centers with employer-sponsored and consumer offerings across North America, Europe and Asia. Relevant comparable for multiple, recurring revenue per center, and parent-engagement technology investment.
• AcadeMedia (parent): Listed Nordic education group that has owned Touhula since March 2024, operating pre-schools through adult education in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Poland and the UK. Comparable as the umbrella portfolio and benchmark for Touhula's segment economics and growth runway.
• Norlandia: Nordic ECEC operator (Norlandia Preschools) historically backed by Nordic Capital, running daycare centers in Norway and other Nordic markets with municipal partnerships. Comparable as a multi-country private ECEC chain with a similar voucher/public-funding dynamic.
• Busy Bees: Large UK-headquartered nursery chain operating hundreds of ECEC centers under multiple brands, including municipal/local-authority funded partnerships. Provides a benchmark for multi-site ECEC operators with mixed private/public funding.

Emerging players

• Nellie / Kiddie Academy (Finland/Nordic franchise networks): Education/franchise daycare networks expanding across Europe including Nordic-adjacent markets. Useful comparable for franchise-vs.-owned-center growth models and parent-tech differentiation in ECEC.

Regional players

• Helsinki Daycare / Helsingin varhaiskasvatus: City of Helsinki's own municipal ECEC operator, the largest provider in Finland. Comparable as the public-sector competitor that sets the price ceiling for Touhula's 5+ Helsinki centers, and a useful benchmark for occupancy, subsidy and ratio economics.
• Espoo Catering / municipal daycare operators (Espoon varhaiskasvatus): City of Espoo's own municipal early childhood education organization, which directly competes with Touhula's Espoo centers (Seaside International, Fallåker, Palolampi, etc.). Comparable in geography and in offering the free/cheaper public alternative that anchors the Finnish private ECEC market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 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

Profiles6 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 Touhula paivakodit