Famly welcomes FirstSteps to the family in its first acquisition

Following an $18 million Series A funding round announced last December, early childhood education-focused platform Famly has acquired UK-based FirstSteps. The FirstSteps brand is slated to be phased out over the coming months, however, no staffing changes are planned, with the founders remaining onboard to facilitate the transition before departing for retirement. The financials of the deal were undisclosed.

Before edtech was the edtech giant we know today, beginning in 1994, FirstSteps founders Kirit and Kokila Patel began providing busy nursery schools with an administration database designed to simplify and better organise their day-to-day operations. A database that was installed via a floppy disk.

Fast forward some 28 years, and while the business of early childhood education management has changed dramatically, the founding principles of using technology to lighten the administrative load on educators remain the same.

What began life as a database, the FirstSteps lineup of today offers a full administration, journal, and communication software package, and counts some 600+ customers throughout the UK and Ireland.

Now, with its first acquisition in FirstSteps, Famly is making good on that promise to, “expand its product-market fit in new markets”, and is aiming to become the de facto choice for early years education management providers. Through the addition of FirstSteps' client base, according to Famly, they will now become the largest service provider of its kind in the UK.

“Famly and FirstSteps started the same way, a father who wanted to make things easier for the staff at his child’s nursery. As we approached retirement I wanted to make sure we had the right partner to carry that legacy on and Famly is clearly that partner, with their excellent customer focus, great reputation in the sector, and fantastic modern software,” commented FirstSteps founder Kirit Patel.