This week, equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube caught up with #FundedClub member Pobble to discuss what the company has been up to since its funding success.
According to Crowdcube, Pobble is on a mission to create a more literate world, by giving teachers a means to inspire young writers and providing children with a global audience for their work. The company’s program is used in over 100 countries and is endorsed by authors, politicians and school leaders.
During the interview, the Pobble team listed its achievements over the past year and a half:
- Progressed through London Business School Incubator and Microsoft Ventures Accelerator
- Raised £900k from experienced edtech angels
- Won the European Business Plan competition 2015
- Grown to a 20 strong team
- About to move to an awesome new office, an old piano factory in Primrose Hill
- Delivered a Pobble Day with Prince Charles, Camilla and 150 children at the Harrogate Royal Hall
- Rebranded the company to be called Pobble, launching a top spec new platform
The company also shared details about its progress:
“While our business model has remained largely the same since the fundraise, we have of course iterated on a number of items. Scaling a business is challenging, particularly as you increase your team size and learn about the challenges of recruitment. We are about where we hoped to be in terms of product market fit, but we have now identified so many more opportunities for product development and growth.”
Pobble’s team revealed some challenges it has been experiencing:
“Hiring is incredibly challenging. We have learnt a great deal in building the team and now have a robust strategy for how to bring in great people. Identifying candidates who have the right culture for a startup, and for your startup specifically, has taken a lot more time than we anticipated.
“We now have 20 people in the team, split about equally between product development and marketing, and teachers who work with schools directly out in the field. Bringing in our third director Matt was a key milestone, because he added the technical skill set to the team that we needed to take the platform to the next level. His background is in Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, and he brings a real ambition to the product that is driving us forward.”
In regards to its future plans, the company added:
“2016 will be very exciting, as we use the new investment to develop the product further and begin to push forward with growth initiatives. We’re also looking to tie up some big name partnerships who can help us on product development and further expansion, so we’re super excited about that.”
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