How Present Pal began
Meet Chris
In 2014 Chris was a student with dyslexia at the University of Strathclyde and realised that the results of his business degree would rely largely on his ability to present to his peers. After consulting with the university’s disability service and dyslexia experts, Chris realised that there was no direct or accessible solution for presentation anxiety. With Chris determined to ensure that his public speaking fears didn’t lead to his exclusion, he created Present Pal.
Since launching the Present Pal app in 2018 we are now supporting over 10,000 learners and presenters in Higher Education in the UK and North America. We’ve expanded quickly, in the past year our team has quadrupled from 4 to 17, welcoming a host of talented, passionate individuals to the Estendio Team, bringing with them a range of skills and ideas to equip us in our mission.
Our Values
Accessibility
It is essential that everything we do has accessibility at its core. Practice what we preach! We’re all about addressing pain points through simple solutions. We recognise that everyone is unique and has a different experience with learning differences and disabilities. We want to create a level, equal playing field for everyone to get the best out of themselves and each other. We are constantly innovating and looking for ways to do this.
Adaptability
We are a fast growing, exciting start up but we are a small team. We all need to pull our weight and add real value. There are no egos in the Estendio team and we all need to get our sleeves rolled up. This may mean being slightly out of our comfort zone or doing jobs or tasks which may not be your specialism but take this in your stride and look at this as another string to add to your bow adding to your personal development.
Ambition
We're an ambitious team who want to support every learner with tools and technology to help them grow and unlock their potential. Long term, we want nearly every PowerPoint and Google Slides user in the world to deliver their presentation with Present Pal. We want every school, every university and every conference to use our new audience accessibility tool and we want to help as many people get the best out of themselves as we can.
But we’re not just here to grow the company, we’re here to become the best versions of ourselves. Personal development is paramount at Estendio.
Attainment
We are constantly striving to be the very best we can be, both as a company and as individuals. We are always looking to learn more and expand our knowledge, growing as individuals and always looking to grow our personal development and be our best selves. But we also do everything we can to help each other wherever possible, sharing experiences, knowledge and helping others grow as we grow as a team.
Our Team
Awards and Investors
Scottish Edge
Wildcard Edge Winner 2016 (£10,000)
Young Edge Winner 2016 (£10,000)
Edge Round 13 Winner 2018 (£50,000)
Converge Challenge
Kickstart Award Runner-up 2015 (£1,500)
Converge Challenge Runner-up 2016 (£29,000)
Scottish Enterprise
SMART Award 2016 (£138,500)