Karlsruhe/Berlin/Würzburg/Freiburg, February 12, 2026: Little Bird Group was formed through the merger of four established software companies (LITTLE BIRD, KIKOM, Stay Informed, Kita-Planer), uniting their expertise under one umbrella. This positions Little Bird Group as the leading provider of digital solutions for early care and education, supporting families, providers and municipalities in making the increasingly complex day-to-day operations of childcare simpler, more reliable and more transparent.
Following more than 15 years of successful organic growth, the merger marks the next phase of the company’s development. Together with LEA Partners, a leading strategic growth partner for B2B SaaS companies, Little Bird Group is accelerating its expansion as the leading digital early childcare and education platform in DACH.
“The German daycare market is under significant pressure: a shortage of childcare places, a lack of qualified staff and low levels of digitalisation shape the day-to-day reality of institutions and providers. At the same time, expectations for high-quality early childcare and education, individual support and close collaboration with parents continue to rise. Digital solutions are therefore becoming a key lever to strengthen pedagogical work and provide meaningful relief for professionals. Little Bird Group is ideally positioned to address this growing demand,” says Nils Berger, Partner at LEA Partners.
“With LEA Partners as our strategic partner, we are strengthening our leading market position and further driving both organic growth and targeted product expansion,” explains Anke Odrig, Founder and CEO Little Bird. “Our shared goal is to build an integrated childcare platform that connects municipalities, providers, professionals and families and maps core administrative, communication and documentation processes,” adds Julia Amann, Founder and CEO KIKOM.
About Stay Informed
Stay Informed GmbH is the leading digital communication solution for daycare centres, schools, after-school care and childcare institutions. The Stay Informed app and its associated administration portal enable secure, GDPR-compliant messaging, scheduling, absence reporting, staff planning and digital parent communication - all with the aim of relieving pedagogical teams and creating more time for children.
About LITTLE BIRD
For 17 years, Little Bird GmbH has been a leading provider of digital solutions for the organisation and administration of childcare. Its platform connects parents, municipalities, providers and institutions through a modular system that digitally maps online place allocation and registration, administrative processes and contribution calculation. It simplifies the management of childcare services and offers parents a user-friendly portal for searching and applying for childcare places.
About KIKOM
instikom GmbH (product KIKOM) is a digital daycare app and part of the Little Bird ecosystem, supporting communication, organisation and documentation in everyday daycare operations. It offers features such as secure parent communication, attendance and absence tracking, observation and development documentation, digital portfolio work, as well as payment processes and administrative integration.
About Kita-Planer
For more than ten years, “Kita-Planer” has been a planning and administration software for the search, allocation and management of childcare places. The online system connects parents, institutions, providers and municipalities via a shared digital data foundation, enabling transparent, legally compliant allocation of childcare places and the identification of actual childcare demand.
With over EUR 2 billion in cumulative capital commitments, LEA is an entrepreneurial-minded multi-stage private equity firm investing in technology companies that are driving transformative changes in their industries. Since 2016, the 35-strong team from Karlsruhe has successfully supported more than 120 technology companies. Visit www.leapartners.de to learn more.