Estendio
Chris Hughes won the 2015 runner-up prize for KickStart and the 2016 runner-up prize for Converge Challenge with Estendio, a technology company aiming to help everyone to deliver the perfect pitch.
Chris, who suffers with dyslexia, founded Estendio after becoming increasingly frustrated during presentation work while studying for his Business degree at the University of Strathclyde. Although he would spend hours preparing beforehand, when it came to presenting his work he would struggle to deliver the content and to read his notes.
After consulting with the university’s disability service and dyslexia experts, Chris realised that there was no direct or accessible solution for presentation anxiety. Determined to ensure that his public speaking fears didn’t lead to his exclusion, Chris founded Estendio and began developing the company’s first app, Present Pal.
Six years on, the company now supports over 16,000 people in the UK and North America and has expanded quickly, growing from an initial team of four to twenty staff members.
Chris’s mission is simple: to create a world where inclusivity is not just an ideal, but the norm.