Hugo and I (also a Hugo) are building Tugo, AI + Human group tutoring that's better than 1:1, and we were one of 14 companies in the first Brighteye Founder Studio, from 27 April to Demo Day on 15 July 2026.
The Founder Studio was one of our company's most formative experiences and we're incredibly grateful to Izzy, Rhys and Hege for the effort that they put into running it, so we thought we'd share a bit more about what to expect if you're considering applying. Let's get going!
The Start
Learning about the studio
First off, it helps to be signed up to Brighteye's newsletter, as this is where we first heard that the team were launching the studio. Plug in to get in!
The decision to apply for us was about network. Brighteye know everyone in EdTech/ Future of Work and we needed to talk to schools, B2B, and B2C companies to refine our direction and go-to-market.
Applying and Interviewing
There was a short application form, and our interviews with Izzy and Rhys were around 3 weeks before the start of the program. I remember us receiving a check from an Angel Investor live during the call with Rhys - that definitely helped to show traction!
Short of that, Brighteye were very clear about which types of companies they expected the studio to be best for - for Studio v1 this was B2B Future of Work companies where they can leverage their network to help you - so make sure you explain why that would be a fit. We have partnerships with Schools as well as selling directly to parents, so that was our angle, and we were really happy to be accepted.
Day 1 of the studio
You know you made the right choice to apply when you turn up to 6 Colville Mews, Notting Hill, on Day 1. Rumor has it that Ed Sheeran may or may not be somewhere in the area…
Beyond the obvious location benefits, we got a really warm reception from the team, including Founding Partner Ben Wirz, and a full rundown of Brighteye's strategy and where they see opportunities in the market.
Everyone had flown in, whether they were attending the studio remotely (yes, you can apply internationally!) or in person, and it was a huge buzz to hear each founder introduce themselves and their company, as well as to get to know each other at the end-of-day social.
Our cohort was 3 in K12 Education, 1 Higher Education, 3 Adult Education, and 7 Future of work.
As an example of the studio making an instant difference: On Day 1, we already had an introduction to a school MIS partner interested in free Y9 and Y10 tutoring. Two days later they had contacted three school trusts for us.
The Day to Day
How it was structured
There was a mix of companies that worked in person in the studio vs those who were mostly online but did come in for talks and events.
Tuesdays and Thursdays were the busiest days for events, which made it easy to plan our weeks. I traced through our calendar and Brighteye put on 68 (!) talks, panels, pitch practices, office hours throughout the program. These were optional but not a single one disappointed and it says something that attendance was still well above 75% at the end of the program.
Beyond this, Izzy and Rhys were always available for 1:1s whenever we wanted to bounce ideas off them. They even set themselves goals of how many intros they wanted to make for us! It was amazing to have a VC on your side of the table, pushing for your growth, without any hidden agenda.
Talks that stood out
Where to start! I think our favourites tended to fall into 2 buckets: Successful edtech founders giving stories of how they started - how hard it was and what helped them to succeed - and hard earned super-tactical advice from founders, operators and advisors. To name a few:
- Fireside chat with James Weatherill from Arbor on how to sell to 10,000 schools - Not only sharing his stories but massive shout-out to James for coming back to so many events to see how he could help!
- Ranbir Arora from Oneday - the 10 Bullseyes Framework for Growth Experiments - Peak tactical content straight from the CEO on how to iterate your way to GTM success.
- Hege Tollerud - Making the most of events - from within Brighteye's team, but if you think your GTM might be event-based, you need to talk to Hege, now.
We also asked other founders what they found most memorable about the studio:
The two biggest outcomes for me were building the first prototype of the New London School concept, and the final presentation. The programme pushed me to move from ideating to executing, and to get my first paying customers. Preparing the final pitch forced me to make it very lean, which crystallised my thinking about what I actually want to build.
- Asan (New London School)
The Studio pushed me to test my thesis hard and fast with customers, advisors and the Brighteye team. The moment that stood out was David's review of my pitch deck. He asked what stays valuable once AI features become commodities, and I couldn't answer. It made me rethink the product, not just the pitch.
- Julie (Noesion)
The Founder Network and Events beyond talks
If talks scratched the itch to know more, being in the same room as 13 other companies made us do more.
Every day working in the studio was an opportunity to grab lunch with a founder who could challenge and stretch your vision, your GTM or your Tech approach. Not only that, but Brighteye encouraged concerted efforts to share knowledge - we even ran workshops for each other!
Halfway through the program we had a full on practice pitch session with feedback from 4 VCs, Angels and Founders. There's more: We helped each other make the most of London Edtech week, Brighteye constantly hosted events in the studio in the evenings that we were free to attend, and several startups even hosted their own events in Brighteye's space. It really was quite exceptional on reflection - what a privilege.
Demo Day and After
Honing our pitch with the Brighteye Team
Partners Ben and David were very generous with their time and advice to prepare us for fundraising, with a real focus on giving everyone the best type of medicine - a dose of reality. We had 3 talks from David and office hours with Ben from which we came out knowing exactly the numbers we need to aim for and hit for our type of company and what gets them excited. David also sent us a review of what he would have thought if our pitch deck hit his desk - that session was a lot of fun ;)
Demo Day
4 minutes each, 14 pitches, 150 industry and investor guests - but somehow not a pressure cooker? Demo day felt more like a celebration of the cohort, and a launchpad for further success. In truth the hard work was done before the day for the companies that announced their raise.
It was however an opportunity not to be missed and all sorts of industry insiders came out of the woodwork to attend - yet another opportunity to meet people who we never would have known otherwise!
Demo Day was a standout moment for us - it was the first time we had to distill Lanura's story and deliver it to 150+ people, which really sharpened how we communicate the problem and vision. The mentor and advisor network has also been incredibly valuable, helping us refine our positioning and giving us practical GTM ideas we've been able to put into action.
- Jenny (Lanura)
Conclusion: How the experience helped cohort members
The cohort colleagues were a great inspiration. Their motivation and constant challenge was a great push internally too. We were able to try plenty of new things, get feedback, have experts check our strategy, and that helped us shape the product brick by brick. Glad to be able to jump on a plane and build in a new country and an important market for us, it opened the mental doors and helped me dream even bigger.
- Alexis (Drimmly)
That question gave me the clarity that I was building the wrong thing, and the team backed my call to pivot. Since then, Noesion has become an AI-native forward-deployed engineering practice with four paying customers. Each mission shows me patterns that repeat across clients, and I'm now turning the strongest ones into products.
- Julie (Noesion)
Since the programme, I launched the UK National Case Championship for students at leading UK universities. Our target is 500+ registrations, and I plan to convert the strongest of them into the first paying students for the programme we launch in September 2027.
- Asan (New London School)
Since the programme, we've signed another paid pilot and a referral partnership, while building a much more structured sales process and funnel around a clearer target customer. We're also continuing to work with a couple BE advisors on both product and GTM.
- Jenny (Lanura)
For Tugo, the introductions and stress testing of our vision during the weeks of the program helped us to pivot our GTM, stop selling to tutors, and partner with 6 schools.
The team has told us that Brighteye Founder Studio 2027 is now coming and applications are open. It's a no-brainer, but feel free to email if you have any questions - hugo.cheyne@tugotutors.com
