Bolton-based educational technology business Cyber Coach has secured a six-figure investment to build a new educational resource, Emile.
The funding from Greater Manchester Export Fund (GMEF) was facilitated by the Co Angel team at Business Finance Solutions.
Cyber Coach designs online interactive and fitness software and has already sold its products to more than 15 per cent of primary schools in the UK and Ireland.
The investment will enable product development and technical support to advance the company’s export strategy which extends to over 120 countries. It will also allow Cyber Coach, which currently employs 14 people, to create 30 full-time positions in Greater Manchester by 2019.
“The use of technology to support learners is really in its infancy and it’s thanks to funds like the GMEF and the support that we received from the Co team that we are able to develop products that are changing how schools think about and adopt digital platforms,” Cyber Coach founder Glen Jones said.
Having received backing from Innovate UK and Creative England, Cyber Coach developed Emile in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), fusing maths and language skills in the first of a suite of digital learning products.
Jones said: “Starting with Emile, our education products have the potential to completely change the way that children think and have been proven to accelerate learning.
“Based on a cutting edge pedagogical approach that has been endorsed by the EU Commission, they feature hundreds of real games that engage and stimulate our young audience and will make an enormous difference to millions of children during their vital formative years.”
Darren Gowling, senior investment director at Co Angel, added: “Cyber Coach’s innovative learning model and the speed with which their software is being embraced by schools marks them out as a technology business to watch, both in the UK and globally.
“Glen and his team are a great example of just how well the business support landscape in GM supports our home-grown businesses, with world class R&D facilities and partners like MMU working alongside funding that can be drawn down quickly to drive development and vital investment.”