iSpeak: Pivoting to corporate success through market strategy transformation
Discover how iSpeak, an EdTech startup, pivoted to corporate success by transforming their market strategy with the support of the CDI Impact Accelerator.
6 June 2024
iSpeak, an EdTech startup, is committed to revolutionising language education by increasing engagement through conversations with real people and leveraging AI technology to accelerate learning. Their participation in cohort 4 of the CDI Impact Accelerator programme was pivotal, providing not only technical support but also strategic business insights that led iSpeak to realign their solution to better meet market needs, prompting a pivot towards serving corporate clients. Furthermore, their choice of AWS services enabled them to build a scalable, reliable, and feature-rich pronunciation analysis AI, which is critical for supporting the development and deployment of their technology.
The challenge
The primary challenge iSpeak’s solution addresses is the considerable effort required to enhance foreign language speaking capabilities, initially with a focus on English. Their product is designed to aid businesses in improving their employees' spoken English proficiency whilst fostering engagement through peer-to-peer interactions. The integration of AI enables the scaling of this solution across the entire organisation. For scale-ups and corporations in Europe, comprising employees from diverse backgrounds, English acts as the lingua franca internally. However, improving speaking skills in a non-judgmental and effective manner remains a challenge. Despite significant investment in private lessons for employees, maintaining engagement often proves difficult. ISpeak's research has indicated that companies keen to elevate the standard of spoken English and reduce miscommunication have concentrated on bridging the gap in English speaking skills, underscoring the demand for innovative solutions to make a significant impact in the corporate learning space.
The solution
The solution iSpeak has refined with support from CDI employs an intelligent virtual classroom featuring breakout rooms for partner-to-partner speaking practice. These rooms are equipped with recording capabilities, allowing the startup’s specifically designed AI to provide analysis, corrections, and recommendations on spoken English. By harnessing advanced speech recognition and natural language processing technologies, iSpeak offers personalized feedback and targeted learning pathways. Central to this transformative solution is the pivotal role played by AWS services, which provide the robust, scalable infrastructure necessary to process and analyse large volumes of speech data efficiently.
Working with the CDI
iSpeak's digital innovation aims to revolutionise the way companies enhance their employees' English-speaking skills. By reducing barriers to effective communication, their platform fosters a more inclusive and productive workplace environment. The potential benefits include improved international collaboration, increased employee confidence, and a significant reduction in miscommunication-related costs. However, corporate clients were not initially their target audience upon entering the programme. Support from the CDI programme not only enabled iSpeak to access AWS resources and refine their technology but also provided specialised business mentoring from UCL experts. This mentoring helped them gain a precise understanding of market needs, allowing them to pivot from being an AI platform for individual English learners to evolve into a market-ready solution addressing the gap in the corporate learning space. Combined with exclusive networking opportunities, these resources allowed iSpeak to scale their solution and expand their reach effectively. Their journey with CDI exemplifies the transformative impact of combining innovative solutions with strategic support to address critical communication challenges in the workplace.
iSpeak Founder, John Jang, summarises his experience with the CDI:
“Participating in the Impact Accelerator Programme was a transformative experience for our startup. Our venture evolved from an AI platform for individual English learners to a market-ready solution for educational institutions, and now also for corporate clients. The support from mentors from both UCL and AWS was invaluable; their insights and feedback were instrumental in navigating the challenges of initiating and executing this pivot. The program's emphasis on sustainable and scalable business models along with the AWS concept of customer-centric working-backwards product focus ensured that we remained committed to creating long-lasting value. Overall, the UCL CDI Impact Accelerator powered by AWS equipped us with the tools, knowledge, and network necessary to take our venture to the next level.”