Early-stage education company · Education technology · August 2026
Making an education product easier to test and pitch
We improved a live education product, built a prototype for a new idea and helped the founder secure access to funding and an accelerator.
The situation
An early-stage education company was already running a classroom careers programme. The founder also had an idea for a digital product that would help young people record their skills and experience.
The idea made sense in conversation, but it was hard to show how it would work. There were open questions about what young people would use, what teachers could manage and what was safe for under-18s. A full build would have been an expensive way to find out.
The existing programme needed work too. The website was hard to follow and the online learning journey had some rough edges.
What we did
We worked with the founder to pin down the idea and decide which questions needed answering first. That meant being honest about what the team knew, what it was guessing and what could stop the product from working.
We designed and built a clickable prototype, not a live product. Young people and teachers could try the main parts of the experience, while the founder could use it to explain the idea to partners and investors. It gave the team something they could test before spending money on a full build.
At the same time, we reviewed the current website and learning platform. We tightened the copy, made the offer easier to understand and pointed out where people were likely to get stuck.
We also helped the founder rebuild the pitch deck and prepare to present it. The deck needed to explain the problem, who the product was for, what still had to be tested and how the funding would be used.
What changed
The prototype made the idea easier to test and much easier to explain. It also brought the unanswered questions into the open, so the team could deal with them before commissioning a full build.
The existing product is now clearer for schools and students. And the founder had a pitch they understood, believed in and could deliver in their own words.
The founder has since secured access to funding and an accelerator programme. The next stage is to keep testing the idea and use that evidence to decide what is worth building.