Tuition marketplace, Tutora, raises £150,000 in just four days
A Sheffield based business that helps parents find the perfect tutor for their child have successfully raised £150,000 through crowdfunding.
Co-Founder Scott Woodley, 30, had the idea to start Tutora whilst working as a Primary School Teacher in Sheffield.
“I was asked by a lot of parents to recommend private tutors, and I didn’t know who to recommend, so I took some students on,” said Scott.
“After becoming frustrated with teaching, I left to set up my own tutoring company, but received so many requests for tuition I couldn’t fit in any more students.”
At that point, Scott got in touch with childhood friend Mark Hughes, who was working in Edinburgh as a Technology Analyst, and they came up with idea for Tutora.
Tutora.co.uk is an online platform that allows students to search for nearby tutors, select their favourite and then book lessons. The business was co-founded and is based here in Sheffield, but is now used in many of the UK’s major cities.
“Parents want tuition in their own home, they don’t want to be travelling and it doesn’t want to be another chore they have to fulfil during the week,” said Scott.
The pair launched the Tutora website in August last year, initially planning to focus the business in Sheffield. It’s popularity with parents grew rapidly, however, meaning they were soon matching learners further afield.
“We first expanded to Leeds, then Manchester and Liverpool. It’s been an amazing journey, as we now have tutors from Glasgow and Edinburgh, all the way down to Bristol, Bath and London.
We want to help as many students as possible,” said Scott. “A quarter of children in the UK have received tuition, and finding a great tutor is really tricky. We solve that problem for parents and students.”
Demand for share acquisition saw the company close this seed round within just four days of launching the raise through the crowdfunding site Crowdcube, a record for EdTech companies on the site.
“We’re delighted to have secured the investment in such a short period of time,” Co-Founder, Mark stated. “It clearly validates both the success we have demonstrated to date, and the plans we have in place to further scale the business.”
The two point to crowdfunding as a great source of investment, especially for EdTech companies.
“Every Teacher will know that you can’t tell people what you do without them offering an anecdote from their own school days, their children’s or giving an opinion on the profession. That’s why crowdfunding is a perfect choice for EdTech – everyone can relate to it so easily and quickly get on board with the idea.”
The two now plan on rolling out new features and helping learners across the country.
To read more about the site and see how it works, visit https://tutora.co.uk