Illumine
“Can a childcare vertical SaaS own the tuition-collection layer for multi-center preschool operators globally?”
Founded2018
HQWilmington, Delaware, United States
Total raised$3.5M
IndustryVertical SaaS / Childcare
The story
Illumine is an AI-powered childcare management SaaS founded in 2018, serving 3,000+ preschools and daycares across 50+ countries. Its embedded finance angle is tuition billing: automated invoicing, ACH/card autopay, subsidy split-billing (CCAP, Head Start, DHS, DCFS), and QuickBooks/Xero sync. In 2025-2026 the company adopted Adyen as its US payment gateway and expanded AI-powered features across parent communication, lesson planning, and CRM.
Product timeline
2018
Illumine founded as childcare management SaaS· launch
2024
Launched QuickBooks and Xero accounting integrations· integration
2024
Launched Parent Payment Profile and Auto Charge feature· payments
2026
Completed SOC 2 Type II audit (June 2025 - May 2026)· compliance
The stack
2 layers disclosed in Illumine’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Accounting
in the full report
Accounting gap: minor
3 more providers across 1 layer, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.