Team Startupcity

• illumine raises $2.5M seed funding led by Prime Venture Partners to expand its AI-first childcare management platform globally, with a strong focus on the U.S. market.
• 200% YoY revenue growth & <1% churn, demonstrating strong global adoption across 56 countries including the U.S., UAE, Southeast Asia, and Europe.
• All-in-one AI platform automates lesson planning, staff scheduling, billing, and multilingual communication streamlining operations for childcare centers.

illumine, a full-stack childcare management platform powered by AI, raised $2.5 million in seed funding from Prime Venture Partners. It will utilize the funds for its expansion abroad, particularly in the United States where childcare operators continue to experience increasing operational pressures as well as staffing shortages.

With the rise of dual-income families, the need for quality childcare has surged. Still, most providers continue to fight inefficient systems, thin profit margins, and labor issues. illumine wants to fill that gap by replacing broken tools and spreadsheets with an integrated, AI-powered system.

"While parents incur thousands each year on early childhood education, the market is still severely under-penetrated by contemporary technology," declared Shripati Acharya, Partner at Prime Venture Partners. "The consequence is a fragmented experience parents are unhappy, teachers get bogged down in admin, and centers forgo important growth potential. illumine's AI-led vertical model revolutionizes this ecosystem by making operations efficient and enhancing outcomes for educators, parents, and kids."

Established in 2018 by Navneet Rastogi, Purva Goyal, and Sourabh Agarwal, illumine's patented AI streamlines critical workflows such as lesson planning, staff rostering, and multilingual family communication. It further offers real-time business insights to enable center owners to make informed decisions and scale efficiently.

"With this one, it's not another piece of software this is a classroom co-pilot and an owner control panel," Navneet Rastogi, CEO of Empower Play, said. "Our AI is trained in educator language and daily processes, so it's truly intuitive and effective."

Now used in 56 countries including the U.S., UAE, Southeast Asia, and parts of Europe illumine has seen nearly 200% year-over-year revenue growth with a customer churn rate of less than 1%. The new funding will be used to accelerate product innovation, deepen U.S. market penetration, and integrate with regional compliance systems.

In contrast to other solutions, illumine is an end-to-end platform across enrollment, compliance, billing, curriculum, parent outreach, and operations analytics. It is especially appropriate for multi-site childcare organizations that want centralized management and insights.