Little Scholars founder named in Top 20 young entrepreneurs list

Freya Lucas

Jan 30, 2024

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Jae Fraser, founder of early childhood education and care (ECEC) provider Little Scholars has been named as one of the Top 20 entrepreneurs under 40 years of age by The Courier Mail.

Mr Fraser, who also founded The Scholars Group and The Fraser Foundation, said he was “truly honoured and humbled” by the recognition which he said would not be possible without “the amazing teams at Little Scholars, The Scholars Group, and Fraser Foundation.”

“I am grateful for the support and excited to continue making waves with these fantastic ventures,” he said.

Mr Fraser was recognised for building an ECEC empire in under ten years, with the 14th Little Scholars service, Parkwood, recently opening on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

“I wanted to create a centre that parents would drive past 20 other centres to get to,” he shared with The Courier Mail.

“We didn’t want to be a centre that is only convenient and cheap,” Mr Fraser continued.

“We wanted it to be an extension of the family and at the same time ensure there was a real focus on education.”

The changing expectations of parents, he continued, have altered the ECEC landscape during his time in the sector, saying what parents want has “grown tenfold.”

“Over time there has been a huge shift in expectations from childcare being virtual babysitting to be true early childhood education,” Mr Fraser said.

Little Scholars has more than 7,000 enrolments across its services, and has more than 600 staff on its team.

The Sector extends its congratulations to Mr Fraser on this recognition. The original coverage of this story is available here.

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