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Koru Kids mission is making it easier and more affordable for families to access high quality childcare.
The childcare sector in the UK is under pressure, with prices rising and nurseries closing down. The way of finding nannies hasn't seen innovation in decades, and there hasn't been an introduction of technology to drive great experiences.
Koru Kids has focused on after-school childcare, allowing them to hone their product and solve one of the most neglected areas. This is specifically important in major cities like London, where parents are often working longer hours.
The business takes out all the hassle of finding a nanny. The solution isn't simply technology: Koru Kids also interviews, trains and references its nannies, and takes care of contracts, holiday pay and taxes. This operational complexity builds a competitive advantage.
When aiming to create the best childcare service in the world, quality will always remain important. Koru Kids has made sure to grow carefully. The company boasts a strict process and low acceptance rates, to ensure standards remain high.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Aug 2019
$12.8m
SERIES A
May 2018
$4.5m
SEED
This company has top investors
Rachel Carrell
(CEO)Previously CEO of DrThom, a healthcare company which I grew to 1.3 million paying users in 3 countries. Before that they spent six years at McKinsey. Have a DPhil from Oxford, where they were a Rhodes Scholar.
Started as an intern, moved into nanny recruitment operations, then became a Junior Product Manager, then promoted to Senior Product Manager.
Started as Marketing Lead, then promoted to Head of Marketing and then Chief Marketing Officer
All
Meaningful work (5)
Intelligent people (4)
Autonomy (3)
Inspiring mission (3)
Challenging work (2)
Open and honest communication (2)
Growing fast (2)
Opportunities to learn (1)
Nice people (1)
Hard working team (1)
Everyone at Koru Kids is incredibly hard-working, across each team. It's inspiring to work with people who are so dedicated to doing a great job. People clearly care about what we're doing.
Operations & Strategy
Hard working team
Sep 2021
We're genuinely trying to make life easier for working parents and that's at the heart of everything we do. We also want to provide top class childcare, and that's a great thing to be spending your time on.
Operations & Strategy
Meaningful work
Sep 2021
There's a lot of transparency between colleagues, and I can bring my whole self to work. It's an informal work environment, which I feel brings the best out in me. We're really honest about how we're performing and the challenges we face to meet our goals.
Operations & Strategy
Open and honest communication
Sep 2021
Koru Kids is a fast growing start-up. There is always something to learn as we are all discovering new markets together. My role as a Policy & Compliance Lead is very diverse and I get to learn new things every day!
Finance, Legal & Compliance
Opportunities to learn
Jun 2021
Management is really trustful. I get to take my own decisions, organise my workload and workday as I want.
Finance, Legal & Compliance
Autonomy
Jun 2021
Making childcare accessible and affordable in the UK is a great mission. If you are a parent out there you will know how difficult and expensive it is to find a great nanny! I have met so many parents as play sessions who are not returning to work because childcare is to expensive that I feel very lucky to be able to work for an organisation that is trying to tackle this issue!
Finance, Legal & Compliance
Inspiring mission
Jun 2021
Literally everyone is smart. No exceptions! It's a pleasure to interact with people who are just really clever every day.
Product
Intelligent people
Jun 2021
The Koru Kids mission is really inspiring: to help families flourish. We work a lot on child development, figuring out how to help kids have positive mental health their whole lives long. We also do a lot to make great careers in childcare, so that our nannies and childminders have much better options than they do at the moment. And we are building better childcare infrastructure so that parents don't get left out of leadership positions throughout society -- this particularly affects women. There are so many great parts to our mission!
Product
Meaningful work
Jun 2021
At Koru Kids there is a deep trust in the team. From Day 1 you can do things, change things, make decisions. You're given the data and transparency you need to put you in the best possible place to make decisions. There is very little second guessing (someone might ask you for your rationale but that's about it) and being proactive and creative is applauded and rewarded
Product
Autonomy
Jun 2021
At Koru Kids everyone has the freedom and is trusted to make decisions. You don't ever need to go through layers of approval and if you make a mistake that's totally fine. Fast decision making is very much encouraged!
Marketing
Autonomy
Jun 2021
Everyone at Koru Kids is super smart (but also humble). I have learnt so much from my colleagues. As well as being smart, everyone also really cares about their work and our mission.
Marketing
Intelligent people
Jun 2021
I've never worked somewhere more open. The exec team do an open Q&A every single week. People are constantly encouraged to share their opinion, and it is really valued.
Marketing
Open and honest communication
Jun 2021
The onboarding at Koru Kids has been really seamless. The hiring process itself was really unique and enjoyable (which is unique in itself) and my hiring manager has laid out clear expectations while giving me plenty of time to familiarise myself with the company. There was lots of information to take in but lots of 1:1 meetings with people around the company helped me settle in.
Marketing
Thoughtful onboarding
Jun 2021
We're doing something that's truly important – revolutionising childcare so that parents can get back to work. As a parent myself, the mission at Koru Kids really resonates with me.
Marketing
Inspiring mission
Jun 2021
Koru Kids puts a lot of effort into their hiring process and the result is a collection of really smart, interesting people. I don't think I've ever joined a team as intelligent and driven.
Marketing
Intelligent people
Jun 2021
We have access to lots of data, and it's up to us to figure out how to reach are very ambitious target. We are always pushed to think about how to do things faster, and to a better standard.
Marketing
Challenging work
Jun 2021
Our mission is incredibly important. Childcare is woefully underfunded by our government, and we're building a system that supports parents.
Marketing
Meaningful work
Jun 2021
We operate in a high trust environment. No one is clock watching. Parents go to pick their kids up or put them to bed. Everyone gets the job done. No one is watching over your shoulder.
Marketing
Flexible working
Jun 2021
I love working at Koru Kids because we are solving real problems for real people. Not only we are making childcare easier to access for everybody, but we're also providing hundreds of jobs for students and new parents that might otherwise struggle to conciliate their career and personal life.
Operations & Strategy
Meaningful work
Jun 2021
The people at Koru Kids are incredible! I haven't met a single person that wasn't kind, hardworking and considerate of everyone - from the CEO to the interns. Everyone is also very talented and passionate about our mission.
Operations & Strategy
Nice people
Jun 2021
Koru Kids is growing so fast! Especially working on our new product (Home Nursery) it's clear how much we're growing and will keep doing it. Every day is filled with new challenges and incredible rewards.
Operations & Strategy
Growing fast
Jun 2021
Koru Kids is just full of really nice, really smart people that enjoy their work. We're building something that society really needs, and that's super rewarding too.
Operations & Strategy
Growing fast
Jun 2021
Working hours are flexible, there's a great staff benefit - a 50% discount on nannies, and loads of the team are parents themselves, so they totally get it.
Operations & Strategy
Family friendly
Jun 2021
Everything moves quickly and we have really ambitious targets. There's a great culture of quick feedback which helps you quickly grow and improve!
Operations & Strategy
Challenging work
Jun 2021
Put simply, the UK and the world desperately needs flexible and affordable childcare. For both families sanities, childrens happiness and womens careers it's one of the major missing pieces of modern society. And I believe KK has a very believable plan to be leader in this area.
Product
Meaningful work
Jun 2021
The UK and the world desperately needs flexible and affordable childcare. For families sanities, childrens happiness and womens careers it's one of the major missing pieces of modern society.
Product
Inspiring mission
Jun 2021
People who like a challenge and like thinking deeply love KK. Everyone is very humble and welcomes critique or feedback. We have access to a data and research set of a depth that would make a much larger company jealous. All in all, just such a smart team!
Product
Intelligent people
Jun 2021