Nuuri raises £275K Pre-Seed to simplify nursery search and enrolment in the UK

Nuuri, an Edinburgh-based startup developing the UK’s first search and enrolment platform for parents looking for nurseries, has raised £275,000 in Pre-Seed funding. 

Nuuri launched in December 2024 and is now live across Scotland, England & Wales. 

 Spearheaded by Steven Clarke, the Founder of Nuuri and a busy working dad. Steven has experienced firsthand the problem of finding a nursery for his child. From struggling to get through to nurseries, lack of information online, cancelled viewings and huge waiting lists, finding a place for his little girl was much more difficult than he could have ever imagined. 

Hailed as ‘The Rightmove for nurseries’, Nuuri seamlessly allows parents to filter nurseries by postcode, preferred start date and age of child and includes features such as virtual nursery tours, room capacities, cost calculators, search filtering and an essential parent advice hub. 

Nuuri’s advice hub supports parents in issues such as how to apply for Government funding, to different types of nurseries, what to look for when searching for a nursery, how much they cost, and how to navigate lengthy waitlists. 

Further, the platform works closely with nurseries to help them tackle one of their biggest challenges- pre-enrolment admin overload. By providing a modern digital shop-front, streamlining enrollment and communication, Nuuri is freeing up time for nursery staff to do what they do best - nurture and educate little ones. 

Steven Clarke, Nuuri Founder and CEO, said:

 "In 2023, my wife and I experienced the complexities of finding a nursery for our newborn daughter. As first-time parents, we had no idea how hard and time-consuming looking for a nursery would be. I set out on a mission to tackle this problem head on and ensure the process is less stressful for future parents and caregivers.

“We’re the UK’s first platform to digitalise search and enrolment in one place, making life easier for both parents and nurseries. As a working parent, I fully understand the juggle. That’s why we’re here - to lighten the load and support parents at every step."

The oversubscribed investment was raised in 90 days, 4 weeks quicker than anticipated. The tech startup is a Tech Scaler member, a Scottish Government-funded accelerator programme. 

Nuuri will use the funding to accelerate product development, focusing on AI tooling that will replace outdated manual documents and communications channels. 

The funding will also be allocated to improve the parent journey through search and enrolment, nursery marketing and onboarding across the UK’s private nursery sector initially.