Digital English app takes top award

FlashAcademy - a digital English platform for schools, colleges and workplaces - has won the Tech Innovator of The Year award at the Innovation Awards 2021.

Veejay Lingiah, CEO and founder of the EdTech company, accepted the award at the ceremony held at Millennium Point in central Birmingham, and opened by Birmingham City Mayor, Andy Street.

The award saw numerous companies nominated who were put through a rigorous awards process to choose a winner. Finalists were determined by a public vote and those shortlisted were then asked to pitch to the judging panel, which included individuals from the likes of Natwest, Innovation Alliance West Midlands, BCU and Aston University.

This award is yet another prestigious accolade that the Birmingham based scale-up has achieved including winning the Digital Learning category at The Learning Excellence Awards, and being named as a finalist in the Covid-19 Response Champions category at the BETT Awards in 2021.

CEO Veejay was also previously named as a finalist in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and included in the Sunday Times Maserati 100 Top UK Innovators.

FlashAcademy was launched in 2016 by founders Veejay Lingiah and Richard Allen. The pair created the app after identifying the need for further educational support for pupils who do not have English as their first language (EAL).

It is now used by over 650 schools and over 100,000 pupils around the UK. The digital platform, based at the Innovation Campus in Birmingham, provides interactive content which teaches pupils curriculum and practical vocabulary, WOW words and idioms to improve their English proficiency level.

FlashAcademy saw demand for its platform triple over the last 18 months, providing schools with a way to provide remote digital learning to disadvantaged pupils during the pandemic and now as a way to help close the gap for many learners.

The EdTech company has also launched a platform for English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), which is aimed at those who are 16+, who will be attending a college or university and would like to learn English, and a workplace app to help employers support workers who do not have English as their first language and who need to learn critical health and safety and technical English for their careers.

Veejay said: “We’re honoured to be awarded Tech Innovator of the Year at the Innovation Awards, recognising the tireless effort of the FlashAcademy team to develop a platform that provides accelerated English skills to so many.

"This award would not be possible without the support of the FlashAcademy team, our tech office providers Bruntwood, our investors UFI and Midven, and the hundreds of teachers and educators who have helped to shape the platform."