Early-stage investment firm Antler Australia recently backed a new cohort of startups as part of its ongoing program to build great local tech companies.

Startup Daily shares the details of each venture in the “Antler Investor Memos” series, which is designed to give you a quick, incisive insight into the startups and people involved, with many seeking follow-up capital beyond the initial pre-seed investment from Antler.

Company Name: Kidly

Date of incorporation: 2022

Stage of business: Pre-seeding

founders: Aaron Deutsch and Anna Korol

Current investors: antlers

Currently increase: Yes

Kidly is an all-in-one platform that facilitates the discovery and booking of children’s activities and helps parents support their children to have fun. The platform functions as a marketplace that brings together families and the small businesses in the communities that serve them and promotes fun through children’s learning, development and growth.

Built by parents for parents, Kidly was co-founded by CPO and serial entrepreneur Anna Korol, who previously founded Bookido, specializing in child care solutions, along with CEO Aaron Deutsch with extensive operations, commercial strategy and growth experience in the US and Australia .

Antler investment thesis

“Discovering, booking and paying for children’s activities is fragmented, inconsistent and fraught with friction for both parents and vendors. Kidly streamlines the multiple bookings many parents make each semester and school holidays, while offering suppliers growth and efficiency benefits. Scheduling and calendar features are a potential game changer for parents and an attractive viral hook for users to discover and share on the Kidly platform,” said Cath Rogers, Partner at Antler.

“It’s clear that Anna and Aaron are building in a space they care passionately about and their entrepreneurial zest, product and commercial acumen position them well for success in this sizeable market.”

Traction/milestones

Kidly has landed over 75 unique companies at 250 locations in the Sydney area.

As Kidly prepares for product launch, it has a waiting list of over 200 registered users with almost no marketing spend and was selected as a Featured Business Provider by North Shore Mums, giving it access to over 40,000 local parents.

Latest financing

Pre-seeding antlers

Use of Funds

Kidly has so far prioritized funding product development, while early strategic hires will focus on technology, collaboration and community to launch and grow the business and tell stories, turning customers into advocates.

The founders say

“As part of the millions of time-pressed parents who are constantly looking for fun and engaging activities to get our kids off their devices and out into the world, we are deeply passionate about building a solution,” says Aaron Deutsch, co-founder of Kidly.

“Kidly gives parents access to hundreds of community partners near them, the flexibility to meet their family’s needs, including drop-in classes without committing to full semesters. As well as an active community, where people can meet and interact with other families in their neighborhood, building relationships that last as children grow older.

“Our belief is that we are addressing a real source of parental frustration, and anyone who has personally experienced the juggling act of everyday life can easily identify with it. Nor do we just see it as an isolated problem in our backyard. The global children’s activities market is expected to grow by $10.77 billion USD between 2021 and 2025, with the Asia-Pacific region as the fastest growing market in the world.

“Kidly builds a trusted bridge between parents and providers by more easily providing comprehensive end-to-end services. Our goal is to enable fun, one activity at a time.”

What’s next?

Antler, an early-stage global VC, is revealing all of its latest investments in aspiring Australian founders and startups. With over 100 investments in early stage companies, Kidly is one of the most recent portfolio companies.

• StartupDaily is Antler’s official media partner in Australia.