tiney funding news – Tech-enabled Childcare Startup tiney.co secures €8.3 Million in Series A Round Funding

In order to assist fulfil the urgent need for accessible, high-quality early childhood education across England, Tiney finds, prepares, and supports "micro-entrepreneurs" who want to retrain as childminders and start childcare facilities at home.

In England, over half of parents say they have borrowed money or depleted savings to pay for creche in the past year. Ten out of every ten moms have left the employment due to rising costs. In 2023, there was a 50% rise in nursery closures due to providers' inability to meet their own expenses. The creators of tiney think that this situation may be resolved by reviving the childminding industry.

Tiny childminders are able to provide parents with the best early years care at a cost that is reasonable for them because of the relatively low overhead costs associated with operating a childminding setting (childminding is 15% less expensive than nursery, on average).

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Since its start, Tiny has brought in a fresh wave of varied talent to the childcare industry. In 2023, 42% of Tiney's hires had backgrounds unrelated to education, such as banking, law, dentistry, retail, and design. In the second half of 2023, Tiney was in charge of hiring almost 40% of all new nannies in England.

Tiny has created tech-driven support networks that promote community and an app that takes care of the administrative hassles of managing a creche. Childminders frequently leave the industry due to feelings of loneliness and the belief that their occupation is low status.

This include managing taxes, processing invoices, and making sure they continue to adhere to Ofsted regulations. Through the app, childminders may also get peer assistance, business guidance, lesson plans, marketing support, and advice from the tiney team. Through technology, parents may also pay for nursery, schedule time for their child, and keep an eye on their growth.

Brett Wigdortz, CEO of tiney and founder of TeachFirst, commented: “The first years of a child’s development are absolutely crucial for shaping their long-term educational trajectory. Early years educators play an enormous role in this, but astronomical costs and provider shortages have robbed too many families of access to high quality care. That’s why we’re working to reverse the decline in childminder numbers – the most affordable form of childcare – and champion those who want to pursue a hugely rewarding role. Our success is proof that there’s a huge appetite for careers in early years when the right support is on offer. We’re finding the next generation of childminders and securing the futures of the next generation of children.”

With this rise, Tiny has received £19 million in funding overall. With the help of this additional financing, Tiny hopes to maintain its position as the nation's leading childminder recruitment agency, stop the fall in the number of childminders countrywide, and provide more parents with accessible, local child care in a home-from-home setting.

Stanislas de Joussineau, Co-Managing Partner at Mustard Seed Partners, added: “Solving the childcare crisis will have huge benefits for the next generation, as well as the wider economy. We believe that tiney is already demonstrating the impact that cutting-edge technology combined with a passion to improve early years can have. They are single-handedly driving up childminder numbers across England and attracting a whole new cohort of talent into the early years space. We’re looking forward to partnering with them as they continue to scale.”

About tiney

tiney was established in 2019 by Brett Wigdortz OBE, co-founder of Teach First, Edd Read, and design entrepreneur John Newbold, tiney has quickly expanded to become the biggest childminder agency in England. At tiney, they consider every kid to be entitled to a first-rate early education. Enhancing child care alternatives has a positive influence on society as a whole, as studies have demonstrated.