Wonderschool, a startup that provides software and support to help individuals and local governments set up childcare businesses, has acquired EarlyDay, a marketplace for early childhood educators.
TechCrunch has covered Wonderschool since its early stages, including both its seed round and Series A (led by Andreessen Horowitz).
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but in an interview with TechCrunch's Equity podcast, EarlyDay co-CEOs Emma Harris and Melissa Tran called the deal “opportunistic” and driven by funding needs. He said that it was not done. Wonder School CEO Chris Bennett declined to provide details on how the deal would work, but suggested it was not a trivial sum.
We invited Harris, Tan, and Bennett on the show to talk about this deal, what's next for their industry, child care issues in America, and more. Please watch it!
In early 2022, Wonder School raised $25 million in Series B at a post-money valuation of $165 million, according to Crunchbase data. EarlyDay raised a $3.3 million seed round in late 2022.
Edtech and other startups have been overshadowed by AI technology over the past year or so, but there's still a huge market for improving child care and other early childhood services. Parents are concerned about child care availability as some federal programs near an end. In fact, a search for “child care crisis” reveals how worried parents of young children are and how struggling they are with affordable options.
If Wonder School and Early Day's deal goes well, the supply of childcare services could increase. That would be good for Wonder School's business and for parents in need.
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For the full transcript of the interview, if you prefer reading to listening, keep reading or check out the complete archive of episodes on Simplecast.