What's On 4 Kids

What What's On 4 Kids does

What's On 4 Kids is a UK-based digital marketplace, founded in 2006, that connects parents and caregivers with children's activity providers, classes, and camps across the country. The platform operates on a two-sided model: free parental membership with personalised search and AI-assisted activity matching based on a child's age, interests, and location, while charging activity providers and franchisors for advertising subscriptions. The core technology is a web-based marketplace with location-based search, a recommendation engine, and an exclusive franchise portal that allows franchisors to centrally manage up to 10 location listings across the platform.

The company monetises primarily through subscription advertising packages for franchisors — starting from £35+VAT per month for franchise listings with no commission charges — supplemented by video ads (£50+VAT/month), social media campaigns, and customisable pick 'n' mix bundles. Named enterprise advertisers include Water Babies, Stagecoach Performing Arts, Baby Sensory, Little Learners, Barracudas, Mini Professors, and Drama Kids. Around this core platform, the company has built an ecosystem of adjacent products: the Innovate UK-backed Generations platform for grandparents, the Connect B2B networking platform, the National Children's Activities Awards (30 categories since 2006), Children's Activities Week, and the Children's Activities Association (CAA), a not-for-profit quality standards body the company founded.

Operated by a lean team of approximately 9 employees working from home, the company is privately held with no institutional investors, founded by Sam Willoughby and led alongside Sam Godfrey-Moore. It earns recurring revenue from hundreds of franchisor advertisers and a long tail of independent activity providers, while using the CAA, awards programme, and sector events to build community authority that would be costly for competitors to replicate.

Name

What's On 4 Kids

Legal name

What's On 4 Ltd

Website

https://whatson4kids.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

What's On 4 Kids is a UK-based digital marketplace, founded in 2006, that connects parents with children's activity providers and franchisors via free parental membership and subscription advertising packages pricing from £35+VAT per month.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Activities Marketplace

NAICS

Amusement Parks and Arcades (7131)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Baby, Kids & Maternity Marketplaces (CRAFABAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Kids & Family Curated Content Platforms (MPACAKAL), Parent-Facing Home Learning & Family Engagement Apps (EDACANAK)

Keywords

• Children's activities directory
• Parent activity search
• Franchise marketing platform
• Activity provider advertising
• UK family directory

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Franchise advertising subscription: Fixed-price monthly subscription for franchisors to advertise up to 10 franchise reasons on What's On 4 Kids AND Generations platform, with no commission charges and no extra costs
2. Additional advertising packages: Nationwide video ads, social media campaigns, and pick 'n' mix promotional packages for enhanced brand visibility
3. Activity provider class advertising: Advertising platform for children's activities providers to feature their classes and activities to parents

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

What's On 4 Kids operates a UK digital marketplace that connects parents and caregivers with children's activities, classes, holiday camps, and events through a personalised, AI-matched search experience. The platform is free for parents, while activity providers and franchisors pay fixed-price monthly subscription fees (from £35+VAT/month) to advertise their classes and manage franchise locations through an exclusive franchisor portal. The business also runs the National Children's Activities Awards, the Children's Activities Week campaign, the Generations platform for grandparents, and the What's On 4 Kids Connect B2B networking platform.

Product overview

What's On 4 Kids operates a multi-platform digital ecosystem serving the UK children's activities sector. The core What's On 4 Kids Platform connects parents with activities through personalised search and recommendations. Supporting this are the Generations Platform (grandparent-focused, Innovate UK-backed) and What's On 4 Kids Connect (B2B networking). The company also runs the National Children's Activities Awards and Children's Activities Week campaign. For activity providers, advertising products include franchise advertising bundles with video ads and social media packages. The Children's Activities Association (CAA), which What's On 4 Kids founded, provides quality assurance for the sector.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Generations from What's On 4 Kids: A national initiative dedicated to grandparents finding classes and activities for their grandchildren, supported by Innovate UK and collaborating with 25 organisations across the children's activities sector.
• What's On 4 Kids Connect
• National Children's Activities Awards
• National Children's Activities Week

Products and services

• What's On 4 Kids Marketplace Platform Free-to-parents UK marketplace where caregivers can search for local children's activities, classes, baby classes, sports, music, holiday camps, and tutoring, with personalised AI-matched recommendations based on the child's age, interests, and saved locations.
• Generations Platform Innovate UK-backed separate platform dedicated to helping grandparents find and participate in children's activity sessions across the UK, with AI-generated suggestions to improve class listings for this audience.
• What's On 4 Kids Connect B2B networking platform that helps children's activity providers find recommended service suppliers, events, and podcast content to support and grow their businesses.
• National Children's Activities Awards Annual UK awards programme with 30 national awards recognising businesses, individuals, and volunteer organisations delivering children's activities, voted for by parents and judged by experts.
• Franchise Advertising Package Subscription advertising offering for children's activity franchise networks to advertise up to 10 franchise locations on both the What's On 4 Kids and Generations platforms, including an exclusive franchise portal with master listing controls that automatically apply updates across every franchisee advert.

Quantifiable outcome

• Millions of parents have trusted What's On 4 Kids since 2006

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Children's Activities Association (CAA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006Industry-led, not-for-profit organisation founded and governed by experts to help parents, schools, nurseries and all children's activities providers by raising the standard of children's activities. What's On 4 Kids is a proud founding member having led the team of experts to launch and grow the CAA to improve the children's activities sector.
• Caudwell ChildrenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner for National Children's Activities Week, a national celebration of all children's activities alongside thousands of families and professionals raising vital funds.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Day Out With The Kids: UK directory platform helping families discover children's activities, days out, and events by location and age. Most directly comparable to What's On 4 Kids as a content-led kids-activity discovery site targeting UK parents.
• Kidadl: UK-based platform providing parents with ideas for days out, activities, and things to do with kids. Operates a similar content-plus-discovery model with a national UK focus, overlapping directly with What's On 4 Kids' parent-facing value proposition.

Broad incumbents

• Netmums: Major UK parenting community and content network including local activity listings, advice, and product recommendations. A broader incumbent that competes for parents' attention and includes kids-activity discovery within a wider parenting offering.
• Mumsnet: UK's largest online parenting forum with active local communities discussing children's activities, classes, and providers. Operates a much broader parenting platform but regularly surfaces activity recommendations that compete with dedicated directories.
• Time Out: Global things-to-do and events media brand with significant UK coverage including family and kids activities. A broader incumbent competing for parents' discovery attention with substantially larger editorial and marketing resources.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/whatson4kids
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/what's-on-4-kids

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 What's On 4 Kids