Ten fledgling #EdTech businesses pitch for startup support at #Digifest19

Ten businesses have been shortlisted in our 2019 edtech startups competition and will compete for five mentorships worth up to £10,000 at next month’s Digifest.

The ten shortlisted startups will be pitching their ideas at Digifest, 12-13 March 2019:

1. Connect2Teach Limited: This connects industry experts to online course providers to develop and deliver relevant courses and increase enrolment, engagement and employability
2. miFuture App: This app provides better way of connecting school leavers with the world of work, offering them personalised career options in a format that tech-savvy young people will be familiar with
3. Pinboard.me: A student-to-student tutoring platform where students and alumni can teach and learn a variety of skills from each other
4. PocketConfidant– AI SAS: Provides a 24/7 private, confidential self-coaching robot assistant to help students to step back, reflect, clarify what is stopping them from meeting their goals, and create intentions and outcomes focused on their personal needs and desires
5. Scholarcy: This uses machine learning to digest any research paper, book chapter or report into a summary flashcard that you can read on any device, instantly giving you background reading, key facts and findings
6. StudyBundles– trading as CampusConnect: This mobile app service connects students with fellow applicants and student ambassadors prior to enrolment, helping to improve pre-arrival engagement and boost offer-enrolment conversion rates
7. Third Floor Systems Ltd: StudentCRT is a web-based student experience and wellbeing monitor which aims to help protect student lives by quickly identifying those who may be struggling, so they can be followed up by responsible staff before matters escalate
8. Tlero: Tlero positively engages students through its an anonymised and bespoke mental health platform, helping to identify three of the main mental health issues students face – stress, anxiety and depression – and offering positive and relevant content to support them
9. UNI4U Ltd: A digital tool to help match students to higher education institutions with the right learning and social environments so they can thrive at university and their future careers
10. Virti: A medical training platform using virtual and augmented reality to transports users into realistic, hard-to-access, environments and safely assesses them under pressure to improve performance

The edtech startups competition is the second element of our edtech launchpad programme, which also includes the edtech challenge for students with product ideas.

Sue Attewell, head of change – further education (FE) and skills at Jisc, said:

“The standard of entries has been improving year on year and we had a hard time shortlisting with much robust discussion from the panel. 

“It was good to see a number of entries relating to student wellbeing, as these kind of apps have potential to reduce student harm and promote mental and emotional wellbeing by providing them with personalised support.

“The focus on AI is also welcome because of the capacity this technology has has to make meaningful insights that can help to empower students and improve educational outcomes.”

Are you joining us at #Digifest19? It will be a great opportunity to keep up to date with the latest developments in learning and teaching https://t.co/gFNN0U6bqX pic.twitter.com/Qyv1AsiFty

— Jisc (@Jisc) February 6, 2019