Entrepreneur Jennie Johnson is looking to raise 拢2.6m in investment for her parenting app My First Five Years.
Johnson, who is best known as the founder of leading North West nursery group Kids Allowed, has been working with Manchester-based digital agency Apadmi for the last seven months and has been alpha testing the app with 200 parents from across the UK.聽
She launched the new venture in January 2021 and has joined forces with long-term friend and co-founder Alistair Bryce-Clegg. Based in MediaCity, My First Five Years employs 11 people.
Johnson explained: 鈥淲e are seeking to raise 拢2.6m and already have someone that has expressed support in funding any gaps to a maximum of 50 per cent so we launch in a really strong position.
鈥淭he child development space is full of apps that regard all children and their 鈥榓ges and stages鈥� of development to be one size fits all. That鈥檚 not the reality. Each child is unique and develops at their own pace.
鈥淥ur app will support parents in understanding the learning that is taking place, help them relax and enjoy their child鈥檚 first five years more, whilst giving their child a strong foundation for their future learning.鈥�
If the fundraise is successful a 2,000 strong beta testing group of parents will be created ahead of an expected launch in January 2022.
Johnson had planned to retire after selling her previous business Kids Allowed to Kids Planet in January 2020 but said she couldn鈥檛 get the idea for My First Five Years out of her head.
鈥淭he more I thought it through, the more excited I got and I remain convinced that, done right, we have a world class idea that could be transformative,鈥� she said.聽
鈥淲e鈥檝e grown the team to 11 and they鈥檝e been busy writing content and have identified 1,800 skills children acquire in their first five years.聽聽
鈥淭he app supports parents in helping children master their skills through play and support a child鈥檚 physical, cognitive and emotional development.
鈥淭he feedback we have been getting from our alpha group has been brilliant. The funding will allow us to give the product the exposure it deserves and continue the next phases of app development.鈥�
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