As any parent of young children will know, the pandemic has made the challenging task of childcare next to impossible. Often overlooked, the childcare industry is an "essential infrastructure", Koru Kids' cofounder Carrell says.

The childcare startup has had to adapt from its core service — after-school care, to full-time support. And it's not doing bad at all — having received 100k applications from nannies in 2019.

Coronavirus prompts surge in demand for childcare startups

Yapily is a London-based open finance infrastructure provider which connects companies to banks using a secure open API. During the pandemic it has seen customer growth surge 3.5x as online shopping became even more entrenched into the global economy than before.

In July 2021, the startup raised $51m in its Series B funding round led by Sapphire Ventures. Read more: 21 fintechs to watch in 2021, according to top founders

Set out to change the restaurant kitchen, Karakuri's robotics is focused on food prep. In a post-Covid-19 world where we're back at restaurants, its lack of compromise on hygiene and safety surely grants it a secure place in the increasingly saturated robot market. And its set to provide services for big catering companies and grocery businesses too. Watch out for the results of its DK-One robot trial in restaurants — when it finally goes ahead. Brunch with Sifted: Karakuri’s robot chef

Robots to reshape the post-pandemic economy

Unmind is a workplace mental health platform that includes services such as teletherapy. Its USP is the Unmind Index — a clinically backed assessment that helps users understand their mental health, and anonymises and aggregates the data to help employers understand trends within their team.

Currently, the company counts major businesses such as Uber, British Airways and Samsung amongst others, and serves over 2 million users. In May 2021, Unmind raised a Series B funding round led by EQT Ventures that made it Europe’s best-funded mental health startup. Read more: [Mental health startups boom as pandemic anxieties worsen] (https://sifted.eu/articles/mental-health-startups-are-in-high-demand-these-days/)

The vegan meal delivery startup allplants has benefited not only from the pandemic, but from a huge boom in veganism and flexitarianism in 2020. In March, its customers increased by 400%.

Based on a record-breaking Veganuary alone (according to the Vegan Society), 2021 could well be another successful year for the company.

Online food startups sizzling — but for how long?

Thriva is focused on preventative health, and believes blood test kits can keep you out of hospital by identifying problems before they spiral. It predominantly operates on a subscription service where customers pay £24-69 per year to receive four test kits a year in order to check in with their health: from their iron profile, cholesterol, crucial vitamin levels or susceptibility to diabetes. It's seen rapid growth and in 2020 raised €12m.

Read more: No doctor required

Thriva founder Hamish Grierson tackles “the elephant in the room”

This startup makes 'digital twins' of real world locations, whether it be entire cities or construction projects. The possibilities are wild — with talks of Mirrorworld which could replicate our entire physical reality. But for now, its focused on construction. Makes sense. It's last round was a Series A that raised €9m, led by Tencent and Sistema Venture Capital.

Simulated reality startup SenSat raises $10m to make AI-powered digital twins of big construction projects

One of the most fast-growing on this list, AI company Faculty develops machine learning systems for governments and businesses. Indeed, the UK Government contracted the startup to forecast the availability of ventilators needed during the pandemic.

Read more: Skype cofounder gifts cryptocurrency to AI startup Faculty

Oxford University spin-out Oxford Nanopore develops and sells devices which analyse DNA, RNA, proteins and small molecules. That's useful not just in medicine, but also agriculture and science more broadly.

In May 2020, it won a $56m contract to help the UK government roll out a novel coronavirus test.

Numan are out to tackle the health epidemic for men: according to their survey, three out of four men do not actually visit a clinic when there's something wrong. Maybe a healthtech app is the solution.

Its main competitor, though, is Manual — a wellbeing platform for men. Regardless, Numan raised €11m in its first disclosed funding Series A round, led by Vostok New Ventures, Novator and Anthemis Exponential Ventures.

Mentech startup Numan raises €11m to help more men tackle their health issues