Our Edtech Startups #MeetandEat is tomorrow. In the lead up to the dinner, we’ve been spotlighting some of the great startups that will be joining us. Today’s spotlight is on Jim Moodie from edspire.

What’s the elevator pitch for your startup?

edspire is a search engine for online learning resources. There has been a recent massive expansion in educational resources being made available online in a wide variety of formats. This is disrupting the traditional ways in which people are educated both academically and professionally. A major part of this change is the unbundling of the educational experience such that people are using a much greater mixture of providers and methods of learning rather than the single channel of a traditional institution. Our aim is to provide a context for these resources of variegated and unknown quality so that people use the resources that are most helpful in complementing their formal studies or professional development.

What were you doing before you launched your startup?

Since 2006 my co-founder and I were running a software development company BPM Logic, based in Shoreditch, specialising in developing complex solutions especially around publishing, e-commerce and ERP. Customers include Research Ltd, Lastminute, Moo.

Where did you meet your co-founders?

We met working at another software company around 2003 and then founded our previous company in 2006. 

What’s your biggest ‘hindsight’ moment?

Different international markets have very different attitudes and needs regarding online learning.

What will 2014 bring?

For edspire, we’re very focused on user growth and increasing the library of resources we classify. In EdTech, I think we’ll begin to look beyond the hype around MOOCs to a wider variety of online learning formats.

1 piece of advice for someone starting a business in the education space?

Step outside of traditional institutional modes of thinking and try to think about innovation in other areas that could map to education. It has so much further to go, don’t be afraid to think radically.

Convince someone to use your product/service in under 50 words.

Would you like to learn something, anything? We’ll help you to do it in the way that’s right for you.

What’s your favourite startup in the education space (not including your own)?

Coursera

What’s your favourite London restaurant?

Hawksmoor. The no.1 priority in our previous company was to be able to afford to hold the Christmas parties there.

You can see our Education Startups #MeetandEat on TableCrowd here.

You can read more startup spotlights here.