Scoodle Pitch Deck (2016): 19-Slide Seed Deck

See all 19 slides of the Scoodle pitch deck — a 2016 Seed deck in EdTech — with a slide-by-slide teardown of what the deck does well and where it falls short.

Scoodle’s 19-slide deck positions the company as a 'Twitch for educators,' focusing on building a professional identity for tutors rather than just a booking platform. The core differentiator is a 0% commission model on lessons, shifting monetization to a £10/month subscription for tutors. The deck successfully leverages social proof, highlighting an early investment from Biz Stone and a team with experience at Google and Codecademy. While the market sizing is aggressive—claiming a $5.2 trillion TAM—the traction data is specific, showing 51k users and 20% weekly revenue growth. The deck effec…

Key takeaways

The Creator Economy Meets EdTech

Scoodle’s pitch deck is a masterclass in positioning. By using the tagline "twitch for educators" on the very first slide, the founders immediately anchor the investor's mind in a high-growth, high-engagement category. This isn't just another tutoring marketplace; it is a platform for the 'celebrity educator.' The deck, spanning 19 slides, moves quickly from vision to validation, leaning heavily on a 0% commission model that solves the perennial marketplace problem of 'leakage'—where users take their transactions off-platform to avoid fees.

The Hook and the Vision (Slides 1-5)

Slide 1 introduces the brand with a clean red aesthetic and the 'Twitch' analogy. This is followed by Slide 2 , which breaks down the educator experience into three steps: Make a profile, Share content, and Make money. Crucially, it mentions that 100% of earnings go to the educators, a point that is expanded upon later as a competitive advantage.

Slide 3 is a pure social proof play. It features a tweet from Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, stating, "Reminds me of Jelly so I invested." Having a Silicon Valley titan validate the concept early is a significant de-risking signal for subsequent investors. Slide 4 and Slide 5 elevate the mission. The company compares its goal of creating a 'teaching identity' to how LinkedIn created a professional identity and Facebook a social one. The quote on Slide 5— "Teachers will become the Kim Kardashians of education" —is provocative, but it clearly communicates the shift toward educator-led branding.

Product Differentiation and Market Timing (Slides 6-7)

Slide 6 , titled "What makes us different?", is one of the most important slides in the deck. It highlights four key pillars: 0% Commission , Profiles (indexed for SEO), TeachRank (a machine learning algorithm), and Q&A . The Q&A section is described as "Stack Overflow, but being able to hire the developers after getting an answer," which is a brilliant way to explain their lead-generation mechanism.

Slide 7 addresses the "Why now?" question by citing the Coronavirus pandemic. It notes that online learning shifted from a luxury to a necessity in weeks. More impressively, it claims that Scoodle’s CPMs (Cost Per Mille) dropped 3x, from £1.50 to £0.50, allowing them to grow revenue and MAUs with minimal increase in marketing spend. This demonstrates operational agility during a global crisis.

Growth Metrics and Market Size (Slides 8-10)

Slide 8 provides granular data on their growth strategy. They list a Student CAC of £0.70 to £0.90 and an Educator CAC of £2.30 to £3.20 . These are healthy numbers for a seed-stage startup. They also claim a 20% referral uplift. Slide 9 shows a clear upward trajectory in user growth, ending at 51k users in the Jan-Mar quarter. The chart is simple and effective, though it lacks a y-axis for the bars, relying instead on the labels below.

Slide 10 tackles market size using the standard TAM/SAM/SOM framework. While the $5.2 trillion TAM (2.6 billion users) is arguably too broad, the SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market) of £12.5m or 1m users feels grounded and achievable. Linking the SOM directly to their revenue model makes the figure more believable than a generic trillion-dollar claim.

Business Model and Financial Traction (Slides 11-13)

Scoodle’s monetization strategy is detailed on Slide 11 . They move away from transaction fees to a £10/month subscription . The slide lists the perks: 10x more messages, premium listings, and unlimited resources. Slide 12 shows the math: 100k subscribers at £10/month equals £12m ARR . This is a classic 'venture scale' projection.

Slide 13 provides the most compelling evidence of product-market fit. It shows a revenue graph outperforming a 10% weekly growth target, achieving 20% weekly revenue growth from November to April. It also notes that 1 in 5 new tutors start trials and 4.7% convert to paying users. These conversion metrics are vital for investors to understand the efficiency of the subscription funnel.

Team and Investment History (Slides 14-16)

The team slide ( Slide 14 ) is exceptionally strong. CEO Ismail Jeilani is noted for making £400k from his first teaching business while in university. The broader team includes alumni from Google, Codecademy, Shazam, and Shell . This mix of EdTech experience and big-tech engineering (Rasheed Wihaib, ex-Google) suggests the team has the pedigree to build and scale the product.

Slides 15 and 16 detail their funding history. They raised £180k in an angel round and £680k in a pre-seed round . Listing the specific names of investors from Miniclip and Oxford University, alongside Biz Stone, builds a narrative of consistent, high-quality backing. The pre-seed slide also mentions they helped students 1.5m times, a strong impact metric.

The Ask and Conclusion (Slides 17-19)

Slide 17 states the current round: £1.2m with £800k already committed . This creates a sense of urgency and FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) for new investors. The milestones are clear: 500k MAUs and £100k MRR. Slide 18 summarizes the pitch with three bullet points, including a claim that the market will be $200bn in 2 years . The deck concludes on Slide 19 with contact information and a repeat of the app mockup.

What Works in This Deck

The 0% Commission Hook: By leading with a model that eliminates marketplace leakage, Scoodle solves a major investor concern about the long-term viability of tutoring platforms. · Social Proof: The Biz Stone tweet is a powerful endorsement that is hard to ignore. · Unit Economics: Providing specific CAC figures for both sides of the marketplace (Slide 8) shows the founders have a firm grip on their acquisition costs. · Clear Positioning: The 'Twitch for educators' analogy is used consistently to frame the product as a creator platform rather than a utility.

What Is Missing From This Deck

Churn and Retention Data: While the deck shows strong user growth and revenue growth, it does not mention tutor or student retention rates. In a subscription model, churn is the most critical metric. · Competitive Landscape: There is no slide comparing Scoodle to incumbents like Chegg, Wyzant, or newer competitors. Investors need to know why a tutor would choose Scoodle over a platform that already has millions of students. · Detailed Use of Funds: While the milestones are listed, a breakdown of how the £1.2m will be spent (e.g., 50% engineering, 30% marketing) is absent.

What a Founder Should Copy

The 'Why Now' Slide: Scoodle does an excellent job of linking a global event (COVID-19) to specific business advantages (lower CPMs and increased necessity). · The Traction vs. Target Graph: Slide 13 shows the actual revenue line significantly above the target line. This visual representation of 'over-performance' is highly persuasive. · The SOM Calculation: Instead of just picking a number, Slide 10 links their SOM to a specific user count (1m) that aligns with their revenue projections. · The 'How it Works' for Creators: Slide 2 is a simple, three-step visualization that makes a complex platform feel intuitive.

Frequently asked questions

How does Scoodle make money if they charge 0% commission?
Scoodle operates on a SaaS (Software as a Service) model rather than a marketplace fee model. According to Slide 11, they charge tutors a subscription fee of £10 per month (billed annually). This subscription grants tutors benefits like 10x more messages, premium search listings, zero fees on lessons, and unlimited resources. Slide 12 projects that reaching 100,000 subscribers would result in £12 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).
What is Scoodle's primary growth strategy?
As detailed on Slide 8, the company focuses on three pillars: Digital Marketing, SEO, and a Referral Scheme. They report a Student CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) of £0.70 to £0.90 and an Educator CAC of £2.30 to £3.20. Their SEO strategy involves indexing educator names and content to drive organic discovery, while their referral scheme claims a 20% uplift, where every 10 downloads result in 2 'free' users.
Who are the key investors mentioned in the deck?
Scoodle boasts a strong roster of angel and pre-seed investors. Slide 16 lists Biz Stone (Twitter & Medium founder), Andrin Bachmann (Piton Capital), and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve (Oxford Professor). Slide 15 highlights an earlier £180k angel round supported by executives from Morgan Stanley and Miniclip, including their Chief Advertising Officer and Head of Product Design.
What specific problem is Scoodle trying to solve for tutors?
The deck argues that existing platforms treat tutors as commodities. Scoodle aims to create a 'teaching identity' (Slide 4). By providing profiles that index content and performance via SEO (Slide 6), they allow tutors to build a personal brand. Co-founder Ismail Jeilani goes as far as saying tutors will become the 'Kim Kardashians of education' (Slide 5), suggesting a shift toward the creator economy.
What are the company's immediate goals for the seed funding?
On Slide 17, Scoodle outlines milestones for their £1.2m raise. Product goals include building a learning resources platform, a video platform, and enhanced data-driven ranking. Marketing milestones include reaching 500k Monthly Active Users (MAUs), achieving £100k Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), and creating 10,000 'education influencers' on the platform.
Cover slide of the Scoodle pitch deck — Seed 2016
Scoodle pitch deck, slide 1 (2016)

Scoodle pitch deck: the facts

Company
Scoodle
Year
2016
Stage
Seed
Slides
19
Sector
EdTech / Creator Economy
Deck type
Fundraising Pitch Deck
Outcome
$2,300,000 Raised
Headquarters
United Kingdom

Scoodle pitch deck PDF

The full Scoodle deck is embedded on this page and can be read slide by slide in the browser — no download or account required. Each slide is covered in the breakdown above.

What the Scoodle pitch deck was used for

This deck is Scoodle’s **2016/2017-era seed pitch deck** for its UK-based tutoring platform that turns tutors into education influencers by letting them build a public Q&A profile and personal brand. The deck presents Scoodle’s distinctive **0% commission** monetization model and a SaaS subscription for tutors, positioning the company within the creator economy for educators. It prominently features social proof around Twitter co‑founder **Biz Stone** and other angels from Miniclip, Oxford and Google, and outlines prior angel and pre‑seed rounds plus a new raise of **£1.2m with £800k already committed** at the time of the deck. Built before the 2020–2021 funding announcements, the deck focuses on raising institutional seed capital to scale a subscription-based tutoring marketplace and reach 500k MAUs and £100k MRR.

Business model: Online tutoring platform that connects students with tutors, with a focus on helping tutors build their personal brand and become influencers through Q&A content and profiles. Scoodle differentiates itself with a **0% commission** model on lessons and instead charges tutors a flat monthly subscription fee (reported as £10–£15/month in different sources).[]

Investors
Biz Stone (Twitter co‑founder and angel investor), Saad Choudri (Miniclip, early angel), Executives from Morgan Stanley and Miniclip mentioned in deck analysis (Chief Advertising Officer and Head of Product De, Jan‑Emmanuel De Neve (Oxford professor)
Founded
2017
Founders
Ismail Jeilani
Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Industry
EdTech / Online tutoring marketplace / Creator economy for tutors

Round: Seed (as described in the deck metadata and contemporary reporting that the team was trying to close a seed round after a self‑funded period).

Year: 2016–2017 for the deck-era seed raise, during which the team was transitioning from self‑funded operations to external capital and actively seeking £300k–£500k seed funding according to a 2017 interview.

Raising: Within the deck itself, Scoodle states a **£1.2m round with £800k already committed**, positioning this as the current seed raise at the time of the 19‑slide deck.

Raised: Deck analysis reports a **£180k angel round** followed by a **£680k pre‑seed round** prior to the deck’s main raise, while later press reports frame the early angel funding as £180k in 2017 and then a separate $760k pre‑seed round in 2020.

Lead investor: Biz Stone is highlighted in the deck and press as the most prominent early backer; early coverage describes him as an angel investor in Scoodle’s initial rounds.

Total funding: Public reporting indicates a **$760k pre-seed round** in early 2020 backed by Biz Stone, Tiny VC, IFG Ventures and angels, followed by a **$2m seed round** in June 2021 led by Google/Google for Startups, IFG and DA One Investment (≈€1.6m / £1.4m). Earlier press also describes a **£180k angel round** around 2017 from investors including Saad Choudri (Miniclip) and Biz Stone.

Use of funds as presented: The deck and surrounding coverage indicate the funds were intended to scale the tutoring platform, grow user acquisition, and build out the subscription-based influencer tools for tutors, aiming for milestones of 500k MAUs and £100k MRR.

What happened after the Scoodle deck

Following the 2016/2017 seed fundraising efforts represented in this deck, Scoodle transitioned from being self‑funded to securing successive external investment rounds. It raised an early **£180k angel round** around 2017, then a **$760k pre‑seed round** in early 2020 and a **$2m seed round** in June 2021 led by Google/Google for Startups and other investors, while growing its user base to around

What the Scoodle deck got right

What could have been stronger

How an investor would read this deck

What draws attention

Risks that stand out

Questions this deck invites

What founders can take from the Scoodle deck

Scoodle pitch deck: common questions

What does Scoodle do?

Scoodle is a London-based edtech platform that connects students with tutors and helps tutors build their personal brand by answering student questions and publishing educational content. Unlike traditional tutoring marketplaces, Scoodle emphasizes tutors as influencers and focuses on searchable Q&A content rather than just booking hourly lessons.

How does Scoodle make money and what is its pricing model?

Scoodle’s core monetization is a **subscription fee for tutors**, combined with **0% commission** on lesson bookings. Sources and deck analysis describe tutors paying around **£10–£15 per month** (billed annually in the deck) to access benefits like premium search placement, more messaging capacity, and zero fees on lessons.

What fundraise was the Scoodle pitch deck used for?

The pitch deck in question is a **19‑slide seed deck from around 2016–2017** that Scoodle used when it was transitioning from being self‑funded to raising institutional capital. The deck highlights a **£180k angel round** and a **£680k pre‑seed round**, then presents a new **£1.2m round with £800k already committed**, leveraging social proof from Biz Stone and other notable angels.

How much funding has Scoodle raised and from whom?

Scoodle has publicly disclosed a **$760k pre‑seed round** in early 2020 backed by Twitter co‑founder Biz Stone, Tiny VC, IFG Ventures and angels from Oxford and Miniclip, and a **$2m seed round** announced in June 2021 led by Google/Google for Startups, IFG and DA One Investment (≈€1.6m / £1.4m). Earlier reporting also mentions a **£180k angel round** around 2017 from Saad Choudri (Miniclip) and Biz Stone.

Who founded Scoodle?

Scoodle was founded by **Ismail Jeilani**, who previously worked at Google as an Account Strategist before launching the tutoring platform. Press coverage and profiles consistently identify Jeilani as the founder and public face of the company, including interviews on the company’s early bootstrapping phase and later funding rounds.

Sources

Funding and outcome facts on this page were researched on 2026-08-21 from the pages below.

Scoodle pitch deck slides

Scoodle pitch deck slide 1 of 19
Scoodle pitch deck — slide 1 of 19
Scoodle pitch deck slide 2 of 19
Scoodle pitch deck — slide 2 of 19
Scoodle pitch deck slide 3 of 19
Scoodle pitch deck — slide 3 of 19
Scoodle pitch deck slide 4 of 19
Scoodle pitch deck — slide 4 of 19
Scoodle pitch deck slide 5 of 19
Scoodle pitch deck — slide 5 of 19
Scoodle pitch deck slide 6 of 19
Scoodle pitch deck — slide 6 of 19

What each slide of the Scoodle pitch deck says

Slide 1

on Ld Answers [+] I SCO | 5 We're building a “twitch for educators’ QWEsroy : Pra l 0a og © ~~

Slide 3

JB) sisione © — “Everybody has something they want to learn, and something they can teach.” (Reminds me of Jelly so | invested.) Check it out: scoodle.co.uk

Slide 5

“Through Scoodle, every teacher will have a brand. Teachers will become the Kim Kardashians of education.” Cofounder at Scoodle

Slide 6

What makes us different? - 0% Commission Profiles Scoodle is the first platform to remove Every educator has a profile that booking fees. If a Educator charges £30 lists their content and per hour, they keep the full £30, This performance, |= index that data vie means almost zero leakage. SED 10 Increase thal dlscovery TeachRank Q&A EB We're building a multi-component Edutalon can Anewer questions to <r algorithm drive by machine learning soredse their hocking. Imagine Fy to help students get the right stack overflow, but being able to answers & resources quickly. hire the developers after getting an answer.

Slide text above is read directly from the Scoodle deck PDF embedded on this page.

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