On 17th November 2016, our Northern Stars final will take place in Manchester. Among the 20 companies pitching will be six from the regional heats currently under way. As the final approaches, we’re highlighting the winners of those events.

Tutorful was victorious in Sheffield so we spoke to co-founder Scott Woodley for the lowdown on the company.

Hello Tutorful, what’s your elevator pitch?

Tutorful helps parents and students find the best local tutors for private, one-to-one tuition in their own homes. There are no up-front charges for parents, so they love the ability to meet their tutors and only pay once they’re learning, whilst tutors enjoy being able to find students so quickly and simply. We cover every subject and every age, taking a commission on the lessons taught through the site.

What’s it like to be a startup from Sheffield?

Brilliant – we absolutely love it. I was a teacher in Sheffield and had no idea what was happening with tech in the city. It’s great to meet all the people pushing the city forward. I went to a Tech North Founders Network event here recently and heard The Floow’s Sam Chapman speak. It’s great to be able to get advice from people like that in the city who’ve been through startup life before.

What are your plans for the future?

We’re pretty ambitious. We want to become the largest tuition company in the UK, and expand internationally – potentially into online tuition. The site would work just as well in other locations. We want to become the place to go for any parents looking to provide additional education for their children at home, with resources and tuition all in one place. We’ve recently taken on new staff and are growing rapidly in terms of the number of tutors and parents using the site.

Why did you enter Northern Stars?

We entered last year but we were such a young company then, with only 30 tutors signed up. It’s significant to us how far we’ve come since then. It’s great that the competition celebrates Northern companies. We want to gain exposure, meet people and tell them what we’re doing in preparation for our second round of investment in the coming months [read about Tutorful’s previous equity crowdfunding round].

We support the Tech North movement and want to let people see the success you can have in Sheffield. It’s great to be a part of it.

What was it like to pitch?

Exciting – I’m always nervous when pitching in front of people, but it was a significant milestone for us to go and pitch and see the reaction of people. It was great to get the reward of winning the event, but also just nice to tell people about what we’re doing. We’re proud of helping families find tutors.

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Northern Stars, Startup stories, Sheffield, Yorkshire, Edtech, Rising Stars