Piota

What Piota does

Piota, operated by Schappit Ltd and founded in 2014, designs and develops custom-branded mobile communication apps for organisations across the education, charity, sports, and community sectors. The platform is built around a web-based Content Management System (CMS) that allows client administrators to publish content, send push notifications, manage registrations, run surveys, and distribute alerts through iOS and Android apps tailored to each client's brand. Underlying technology includes a proprietary Piota Device Token (PDT) system that enables notifications and analytics without cookies or cross-app tracking, addressing GDPR requirements relevant to schools and similar institutions. The company is registered in England and Wales with headquarters in Sileby, Leicester, and distributes apps globally via the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Piota's go-to-market is product-led with free trials and direct B2B sales to schools (nursery, primary, secondary, SEN, and Multi Academy Trusts), charities, sports clubs, religious organisations, housing associations, local authorities, and workplace wellbeing programmes. Revenue comes from annual subscription licensing paid by the client organisation, while the apps themselves are free for end users (parents, members, patrons). Pricing is not publicly disclosed but is consistently characterised by customers as materially cheaper than the SMS and printing costs it replaces. In September 2024, Piota divested its Healthcare Apps division to Silicon Practice, narrowing the company's focus to education and community verticals. The company operates internationally with active school deployments in the UK, Romania, Hong Kong, Kenya, Tanzania, and Indonesia.

Name

Piota

Legal name

Schappit Ltd

Website

https://piota.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Piota (Schappit Ltd) builds custom-branded iOS and Android communication apps with a web-based CMS, push notifications, and registration tools for UK and international schools, charities, sports clubs, and community organisations, on an annual subscription model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

School Communication Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

akta.pro primary industry

Developer Distribution & App Release Platforms (BPAMADAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Custom Application Development (Web/Mobile/Desktop) (BPAEAFAA)

Keywords

• School communication apps
• Parental engagement software
• Push notification platform
• Custom branded mobile apps
• Community engagement apps

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. B2B App Licensing: Piota builds and licenses custom communication apps to organisations (schools, healthcare settings, charities, sports clubs). Organisations pay for the app platform while the apps are free for end users (parents, members, patients) to download. The annual cost is described as 'very low' compared to traditional communication methods like printing and SMS.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Piota designs, develops, and licenses custom-branded mobile communication apps (iOS and Android) for schools, charities, sports clubs, and community organizations. Each app is fully customised and branded for the client organization, with a web-based CMS for staff to push notifications, update content, send alerts, and run surveys. Apps are free for end users (parents, members) to download while organizations pay an annual subscription for the platform licensing.

Product overview

Piota is a communication app platform provided by Schappit Ltd that offers customisable mobile applications for schools, charities, and community organisations. The core product is the School Communication App (for Nursery, Primary, and Secondary schools), alongside specialised variants for Charity Communication, Community Apps (serving sports clubs, religious organisations, workplace wellbeing, local authorities, and housing associations), Sports Club Apps, and Workplace Wellbeing Apps. All apps share common features including push notifications, news feeds, events calendars, forms, contacts, alerts, and surveys. The platform operates as a white-label solution branded for each client organisation. Piota also previously offered Healthcare Apps, which transitioned to Silicon Practice in September 2024.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Piota: Core brand for communication apps serving schools, charities, sports clubs, and community organizations.

Products and services

• School Communication App Customisable mobile communication app for Nursery, Primary, and Secondary schools across the UK and internationally. Features include push notifications, news feeds, events calendars, forms, contacts, alerts, and surveys designed to improve parental engagement and reduce admin costs. Apps are free to download for parents; schools pay annual licensing.
• Charity Communication App Communication app for charities enabling patrons to check upcoming events, stay updated on activities, access information about the charity's mission, and receive instant push notifications.
• Community Communication App General communication app for various community organisations including sports clubs, religious organisations, workplace wellbeing initiatives, local authorities, and housing associations. Custom-branded app with push notifications, events, news feeds, and forms.
• Sports Club App Dedicated sports team communication app for managing training schedules, coordinating teams, sending real-time notifications, and streamlining club communications for football teams, youth sports clubs, and amateur/professional sports organisations.
• Workplace Wellbeing App Employee communication and wellbeing app for supporting workforce engagement, sharing wellbeing advice, mental health resources, business updates, and company information within organisations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Schools save 2-4 hours per week on admin communication tasks
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Silicon PracticemajorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerPiota Healthcare Apps division has been acquired by and is now part of Silicon Practice. This transfer includes the healthcare app solutions Piota previously offered to NHS trusts and healthcare organisations.
• NTT Global Data CenterscoreTechnology or IntegrationData centre provider hosting Piota's infrastructure in greater London. NTT Global Data Centers (via Gyron) provides the physical data centre infrastructure for storing all app data.
• Rochen LtdcoreTechnology or IntegrationWeb hosting partner for Piota's website and potentially app infrastructure. Rochen provides hosting services to protect data in storage alongside NTT Global Data Centers.
• Apple App StorecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMobile app distribution platform where Piota's custom-branded apps for schools and organisations are published and made available for download to end users.
• Google PlaycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAndroid app distribution platform where Piota's custom-branded apps are published and available for download to Android device users.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• ParentPay: UK incumbent in school payments and parent communication, serving the majority of UK schools with a broader platform (payments, meals, messaging, parental engagement) that overlaps with Piota's communication-app value proposition.
• Arbor Education: UK MIS and parent communication platform used by a large share of UK schools and MATs; its parental engagement and messaging features compete with Piota while being bundled into a broader student information system.
• ClassDojo: Globally used classroom and school communication app in tens of millions of homes; competes with Piota on parent-school messaging and announcements, though its primary focus is classroom behaviour and portfolios.

Regional players

• ParentSquare: US-based school-home communication platform widely used by US K-12 districts; comparable product (push notifications, surveys, attendance, two-way messaging) but primarily serving North American districts rather than UK schools.

Direct peers

• Schoolcomms: UK school messaging and parent engagement platform providing email, SMS, push notifications and app-based communication to schools and MATs in direct competition with Piota.
• SchoolPing: UK parent engagement and school messaging app commonly deployed alongside school MIS systems; competes with Piota for the same headteacher buyers and parent-download use case.
• Weduc: UK-based direct competitor offering a school communication app with push notifications, calendars, surveys and parent engagement features, targeting the same UK primary, secondary and MAT customer base as Piota.
• Groupcall: UK school messaging solution offering parent communication via app, SMS, email and voice, targeting the same UK state-school and MAT buyers as Piota.
• Schoolday (formerly Schoop): School communication app publishing and CMS platform similar to Piota, enabling schools to deliver branded apps with push notifications and parental engagement tools across the UK and Europe.

Others

• Silicon Practice: UK healthcare-software provider that acquired Piota's healthcare-apps division in 2024; relevant not as a competitor but as a former division acquirer illustrating the platform's vertical-divestiture trajectory.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/piotaapps
• Facebookfacebook.com/piotaapps
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/piota

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Piota