Jessica Klein digs into why, how and where coworking spaces are combining daycare/childcare and gyms that are increasingly popular for working parents.

Examples highlighted are Haven, MOMentum, and Bubbadesk.

BubbaDesk‘s Lauren Perrett share that they’ve opened a capital raise for "national expansion, global partnerships and policy-aligned models".

The announcement did not disclose the capital raise amount, valuation, facility sizes, or member numbers, but the firm does have with 8 locations currently operating across New South Wales and ACT and is in final-stage negotiations with one of Australia’s largest landlords for securing multiple sites in Victoria, New South Wales, and Western Australia.

Lauren Perrett, founder of BubbaDesk and Wombee, talks with Sarah Maree on the Coffee, Clients & Naptime podcast about creating coworking spaces with onsite childcare across Australia to help parents balance work and family.

work.life (in collaboration with wellbeing specialists The Happy Human Project and creative agency Defiant) are stepping up to support working partners by launching a free on-site kids club.

It seems like this is a one-day pilot-session called dream.play.grow at their event space at St Cross Street. It saw all 15 limited slots snapped up by members within minutes, hitting home the need for more affordable summer childcare, as rising costs see the 6-week break costing an average of £1,076 per child.

Outside of the summer, we wouldn’t be surprised to see UK brands exploring how concepts like Narra Collective in Jersey City, Hopscotch Labs in Boston, and BubbaDesk across Australia are doing more, long-term.

Lauren Perrett shares that Bubbadesk will be expanding into 9 locations across NSW and the ACT by the end of 2025 – with 5 more sites on the way.

We need more coworking spaces with onsite childcare. Go Bubbadesk go!