Two entrepreneurs detail how a “eureka” moment led them to launch a new edtech app, My First Five Years, to “marvel in the moments not just the milestones” and reduce parental anxiety.
The co-founders behind the app, Jennie Johnson and Alistair Bryce-Clegg, had a vision to slot into a “gap in the early years education market” in the midst of the pandemic.
The app, My First Five Years, is designed to support and guide parents through their child’s development journey in their formative years.
The pair are “on a mission” with their new venture to shape the future of global parenting to become a “challenger brand” in an established sector.
“The reach of the app goes so much more beyond what anything that the two of us could do as individuals so we’re on a big mission,” Jennie Johnson told Prolific North.
Jennie Johnson, who was awarded an MBE in 2016 in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in recognition of her services to business, is a renowned figure in Greater Manchester.
As the founder of nursery group Kids Allowed, which evolved into one of the region’s success stories in the childcare sector, she sold the business in 2020 to Kids Planet after almost 20 years at the helm.
Winding down after a successful career, she initially decided to retire in 2020 – but it didn’t last long.
“The thing with ideas is you have no control when they come to you,” Jennie said.
“Retirement is not going anywhere,” she laughed, as the app recently secured £1.4m in funding after previously raising £200,000 seed funding within just 12 months of its inception.
“When Jennie announced she was retiring, everybody who knew her openly went – ‘well that will last all of five mins’ – and sure enough no one was surprised when she said, ‘oh I’m back’,” Alistair teased.
