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Kids activity finder Hoop secures £4m Series A

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Local kids activity finder Hoop has secured £4m in Series A led by Edge Investments and Business Growth Fund.

The Hoop app helps families discover and book fun organised local activities for children; from kids raves and swimming lessons to including baby and toddler groups to swimming lessons, and drama classes and arts and crafts.

Since it was launched in London in 2016, the app has been downloaded over 750,000 times. It was also voted “Best App of the Year” by Apple in 2016 and 2017.

Hoop CEO Daniel Bower commented on the investment: “Through the tools we build and the connections we make, our mission is to inspire, educate and entertain children out of the home. 

“This new round of investment will allow us to rapidly scale our operations at Hoop, enabling us to build a world class tool for organisers to reach new audiences, and continue improving the way we help families discover what’s on for their kids,” he added.

This latest investment follows a BGF Ventures-led round of £2.4m in 2017. The money will be used to begin plans for expansion into the US. It will also helps it to develop the app and grow the company’s web presence.

Edge Investments specialises in businesses in the creative industry. It has raised £200m since it was launched in 2016, and has made five investments

This funding decision was led by Edge investment’s manager Niall Santamaria, who will also join the Hoop board.

Santamaria, commented: “As the children’s activity sector is still highly fragmented, it is extremely difficult for parents to find and book the activities they want for their children, so there is great demand for an aggregator with strong brand awareness like Hoop.  

“Hoop delivers exactly this kind of convenience for finding and marketing kids activities and it is expanding throughout the UK at a remarkable rate,”
he added.

The Hoop app also reveals some regional differences when it comes to family activities. Brighton is the city with the most activities available per capita of children, whilst Edinburgh is the best city for new families, with more activities per capita of babies than any other city.

London also holds 50% more family activities per capita than the national average.

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