51. Happity

DEI Award Winner

For the business that can give evidence of a committed diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative and how it has been embedded in the company.

Startups 100: DEI Awards

Founders: Sara Tateno and Emily Tredget
Founded: 2017
Website: happity.co.uk

Baby and toddler classes exist all over the UK to keep toddlers tantrum-free and connect parents with local support networks. But supply is fragmented, often run by solopreneurs lacking technical skills. That leaves time-poor, toddler-rich parents battling to find information and user-friendly booking systems.

Happily, London-based startup Happity is here to offer booking and marketing software for providers, enabling them to generate new customers with ease. This data then powers the search for parents, who can easily navigate what’s on for their angelic ankle-biters locally, tailoring results to their needs and completing payment onsite.

All the best startups start from solving a personal problem. Prior to Happity, co-founder Emily Tredget was an active campaigner for maternal mental health awareness and was determined to turn her experience of postnatal depression into a force for good.

Co-founder Emily Tredget was determined to turn her experience of postnatal depression into a force for good.

Meanwhile, her friend Sara had spotted a gap in the market but didn’t have the skills or contacts to start a tech company. When her son was five months old, she joined a coding bootcamp whilst her husband took shared parental leave, and built the first version of Happity from her kitchen table.

Drawing on their own experiences of the corporate workplace and having been frustrated by the lack of options for parents, the pair has reimagined what work can look like. They now share jobs as co-CEOs and the company runs remotely, offering full flexibility to its highly motivated team.

Our judges loved the wider impact the co-founders have had on the childcare industry. During the pandemic, Emily and Sara led the charge in lobbying for the sector to be recognised in the COVID-19 recovery roadmap. Not only were both partners successful in changing the law, they were also nominated by the Parliamentary Committee for an award in achieving democratic change.

During the pandemic, Emily and Sara led the charge in lobbying for the sector to be recognised in the COVID-19 recovery roadmap.

Currently up to 190,000 parents use Happity every month thanks in part to its impressive partnerships and clients including the NHS, Rugby Tots, Sing & Sign and Baby Sensory. But these are baby steps for Happity’s ambitious duo.

Over the next few years, the plan is to go UK-wide, expanding both their paid as well as free class offerings to ensure an end to loneliness in all new parents.

We look forward to seeing this bonny booking platform grow and helping little ones (and their big ones) get from Nappy Valley to Happity Valley.