Kids & Co Early Learning Centre

What Kids & Co Early Learning Centre does

Kids & Co Early Learning Centre is a family-owned and operated long day care and kindergarten provider operating four physical centres across inner Melbourne — Docklands (headquarters, 130-child licensed capacity across 7 age-graded rooms), Southbank, South Melbourne, and West Melbourne. Founded by the Klisaris family in 1997, the business is led day-to-day by owners Paul and Kathy Klisaris, who bring more than 25 years of hands-on early childhood education experience, supported by over 60 years of combined service management experience across the team. The company serves families with children aged 8 weeks to 5 years, delivering play-based learning aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and the National Quality Standard (NQS), and operates two government-funded kindergarten rooms (Guwing and Burra) meeting Victorian Kinder Tick standards.

The underlying technology footprint is modest: a parent communication app that delivers daily observations, child portfolios, photos, and activity updates to enrolled families. No proprietary AI/ML, no API surface, and no documented third-party integrations are evidenced. All extracurricular programming (sport, singing, dance, incursions, excursions) is bundled into the service at no incremental fee, and meals are prepared on-site.

The business model is a recurring subscription-style fee structure: families pay weekly childcare fees for daily long day care, with revenue dispersed across a long tail of individual Melbourne families. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer via centre tours, a waiting list, organic search, Facebook/Instagram presence, Google Reviews, and parent referrals. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Two of the seven rooms in the Docklands flagship are government-funded kindergarten rooms, introducing a subsidised revenue component. The company has no external investors, no parent company, and no disclosed funding rounds; it operates as a 100% family-owned private business.

Name

Kids & Co Early Learning Centre

Legal name

Kids & Co Early Learning Centre

Website

https://kidsandcochildcare.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Kids & Co Early Learning Centre is a family-owned Melbourne childcare operator running four long day care and kindergarten centres (Docklands, Southbank, South Melbourne, West Melbourne) for children aged 8 weeks to 5 years, delivering play-based EYLF-aligned programs under recurring family-paid fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Childcare & Early Learning Services

NAICS

Child Care Services (62441)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Day Childcare Centers (EDACAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Preschool Programs within Childcare Centers (EDACABAL), Infant-Focused Childcare Centers (EDACAAAF)

Keywords

• Early childhood education
• Long day care
• Kindergarten programs
• Play-based learning
• Family childcare services

Headquarters

HQ city

Docklands

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Childcare Fees: Long day care services with integrated kindergarten program. Families pay childcare fees for daily care and education services. The centre provides meals as part of the service offering.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kids & Co Early Learning Centre provides long day care and government-funded kindergarten services for children aged 8 weeks to 5 years across four Melbourne locations. The service is structured around seven age-specific rooms with educator-to-child ratios exceeding regulatory requirements, a play-based curriculum aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework and National Quality Standard, on-site meals, complimentary extracurricular programs (sport, singing, dance, incursions), and a parent communication app for daily observations and child portfolios.

Product overview

Kids & Co Early Learning Centre is a family-owned and operated childcare and kindergarten network operating four locations across Melbourne (Docklands, Southbank, South Melbourne, and West Melbourne). The company offers a unified early childhood education service structured around age-specific rooms for children from 8 weeks to 5 years, with government-founded kindergarten programs meeting Victorian Kinder Tick standards. Core offerings include play-based learning curriculum aligned with EYLF and NQS, supported by extra-curricular programs (sport, singing, dance, incursions) and a family communication app. The Klisaris family has operated childcare services since 1997, bringing over 60 years combined experience to the four centre network.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Kids & Co Early Learning Centre (Docklands) Family-owned early learning centre in Melbourne Docklands providing long day care for up to 130 children aged 8 weeks to 5 years across 7 age-specific rooms. Open Monday to Friday, 7 AM to 6 PM.
• Kindergarten Program Government-funded kindergarten rooms (Guwing for 3-5 years and Burra for 4-5 years) meeting Victorian Government Kinder Tick standards, delivering play-based learning aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and National Quality Standard (NQS) for children aged 3-6 years.
• Kids & Co Early Learning Centre (Southbank) Childcare centre and kindergarten location in Southbank, Victoria, offering play-based learning activities, social-emotional development, and school readiness preparation.
• Kids & Co Early Learning Centre (South Melbourne) Childcare and kindergarten location in South Melbourne offering flexible childcare programs, structured kindergarten curriculum, and extracurricular activities including dance, music, science experiments, and gardening.
• Kids & Co Early Learning Centre (West Melbourne) Child care centre location in West Melbourne offering baby and toddler programs, preschool school-readiness curriculum, outdoor play, and extracurricular activities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Above ratio staffing in all 7 rooms with extra educator

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Only About Children: Premium inner-Melbourne and Sydney childcare operator combining long day care, kindergarten, and dedicated parent communication platforms. Highly comparable to Kids & Co's Docklands/CBD positioning and parent-engagement tech-led model.
• Guardian Childcare & Education: Premium Australian childcare operator offering long day care and kindergarten with age-based rooms and parent communication apps. Closely matches Kids & Co's premium, family-comms-oriented positioning while operating across more urban catchments.
• Petit Early Learning Journey: Premium Australian early learning operator with centres in Victoria and other states, offering play-based long day care and kindergarten aligned with EYLF/NQS. Comparable family-comms messaging and above-regulation staffing approach to Kids & Co.

Broad incumbents

• KU Children's Services: Large not-for-profit provider of early childhood education services across NSW, VIC, and ACT, including long day care and government-funded preschool. Comparable service mix and curriculum framework (EYLF/NQS) with substantially broader geographic reach.
• Think Childcare: ASX-listed owner and operator of long day care centres across Australia. Overlapping long day care and kindergarten product for the 0–5 segment, with similar exposure to government subsidies but materially larger scale and geographic reach.
• Goodstart Early Learning: Australia's largest not-for-profit early learning operator with hundreds of centres nationally. Directly comparable long day care and kindergarten offering for children 0–5, with overlapping parent segments and government funding exposure; much larger scale than Kids & Co.
• Affinity Education: ASX-listed childcare operator (part of G8 Education portfolio) running long day care and kindergarten centres across Australia. Comparable age-specific programming and parent communication, but at significantly larger scale and with corporate governance.
• G8 Education: ASX-listed operator of ~400+ childcare centres across Australia under brands including Affinity, Guardian, and Only About Children. Closely comparable long day care and kindergarten product, but operates at national scale with public-company economics versus Kids & Co's family-owned four-site footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/KidsandCoDocklands
• Instagraminstagram.com/kidsandcodocklands/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Kids & Co Early Learning Centre