What We Do
SmartStart is pioneering a system-level approach to closing the early learning access gap at scale. Through an end-to-end delivery platform, the organisation enables women to build and run quality home and community based early learning enterprises, with the training, tools, quality systems needed to reach children across underserved communities nationwide.
Our social franchise model delivers a powerful triple benefit:
Improving long-term outcomes for children through evidence-based early learning during critical developmental years
Enabling women to build and sustain livelihoods through early learning enterprises
Enabling increased economic participation for parents through affordable, reliable childcare.
Through strategic partnerships with government, funders, and ecosystem collaborators, SmartStart has grown into a national network reaching 160,000 children every week across all nine provinces, while playing a key role in shaping how early learning is delivered at scale.
The Early Learning Crisis
Access Gap
Roughly one-third of 3- to 5-year-olds (over 1 million children) lack access to early learning programs.
Learning Outcomes
Only 35% of children aged 3-4 are on track with development milestones.
Skills Development
55% of children struggle with foundational skills by age 4-5.
Economic Context
Approximately 67% of children live in extreme poverty, perpetuating cycles of exclusion.
Join the Early Learning Movement
SmartStart is leading a movement to reshape early learning across South Africa through a growing network of partners, advancing early childhood care and education (ECCE) as a powerful engine for equity, economic participation, and generational change. By enabling women to run early learning enterprises that deliver quality early learning for young children, and strengthening the broader system, SmartStart is improving children’s developmental outcomes while unlocking new economic opportunity.
01 Practitioners
Start an early learning programme in your community
Turn your love for children into a dignified livelihood. SmartStart equips you with training, tools and ongoing support to set up and run a quality programme from your home or community venue.
02 Investors
Invest in a scalable solution to inequality
Your capital can unlock proven, at-scale early learning in the communities that need it most, while enabling women to build sustainable livelihoods. Partner with SmartStart to back an evidence-based national platform with measurable outcomes and system-level impact.
03 Partners
Build the ecosystem with us
NGOs, social enterprises, research bodies, government and private networks are all part of the solution. Collaborate with SmartStart to strengthen systems, expand access, and support women to participate and benefit from the early learning economy nationwide.
04 Caregivers
Give your child a smart start in life
Find a nearby SmartStart programme and get simple, practical tools to support your child’s learning at home – working together with their teacher to give them the best possible start.
Our Impact
SmartStart has connected more than 320,000 children in South Africa’s lowest-income communities to quality early learning during the most critical years of brain development.
“On track” children increased from 45% to 65% in just eight months, while those falling far behind were nearly halved.
More than 25,000 community members (mostly women) were enabled to run early learning enterprises, creating jobs and income locally.
SmartStart is helping drive systemic reform toward universal access for over 1 million children by 2030.
Our Network Implementation Partners
Our Network Implementation Partners are franchisors who implement SmartStart’s social franchise model across diverse communities. Rooted in local contexts, they leverage deep community knowledge to recruit, train, and mentor practitioners while ensuring quality, relevance, and scale.
