Winnie

Winnie is a marketplace for childcare and early education, and a community for parents and childcare providers. It is reported that Winnie is one of the first tech companies to target the growing market of millennial parents. 

Parents use Winnie to discover local daycares and preschools and get information on tuition, licensing status, and parent reviews of programs. Childcare providers use Winnie to fill openings, build their wait lists, and get support and resources to run their business efficiently. Winnie Pro (launched in March 2022) is a suite of services designed to support the growth and management of child care centers. It features profiles, landing pages, aggregated information, as well as marketing, enrollments, and staffing. Winnie reported that its pay-per-lead model witnessed an 8x growth in revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic, but was not scalable as childcare providers were limited by staffing challenges which led the company to relook at its business model and shift to a SaaS-based monthly fee, which varies based on the services selected by the center. Its beta customers include Guidepost Montessori and Izzi. More recently, in June 2022, the company launched a job marketplace to help carers find better paying positions.  

Key customers and partnerships 

In October 2020, Winnie announced a partnership with ChildcareCRM, a web-based customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing system specially designed for the childcare industry. The objective is to provide an integrated platform for lead generation and lead management in the childcare industry.

Funding and financials

Winnie’s most recent funding round was in October 2019 when it raised USD 9 million in Series A funding. The company planned to use the funds to continue expanding its operations. As of October 2019, Winnie provided childcare data for over 7,000 cities. The company is working on expanding into more cities, reaching more parents and featuring more daycares and preschools.