70. Koru Kids

Founder: Rachel Carrell
Founded: 2016
Website: www.korukids.co.uk

It wasn’t until Koru Kids founder Rachel Carrell had her baby that she realised accessing childcare in London was incredibly difficult. With the childcare sector being one of the last remaining sectors not to be disrupted by technology, she saw space for a company that used technology to provide a complete childcare solution – so Koru Kids was born.

Koru Kids allows parents to share childcare on a larger scale, making it easier and cheaper to have kids looked after. At the moment, it focuses on providing after school childcare in London, but with backing from big names in business – including Gumtree co-founder Michael Pennington – Carrell is determined to make Koru Kids the company parents turn to for kids of all ages.

Carrell and her team take no shortcuts. All of their decisions are heavily influenced by data, and all team members are experts in their field. Last year, over 130,000 people applied for nanny positions, but only 10% went on to become Koru Kids nannies. All nannies complete a special in-house training program and they’re all DBS checked.

This approach has led to great feedback from parents, fantastic media coverage, and several industry awards. This, combined with very healthy investor backing, means we’re confident that we’re going to see further success from Koru Kids in the future.