Entrepreneur sells literacy business he created at school

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Giglets aims to help schools and teachers improve literacy results

An online literacy business created by a Scottish entrepreneur while he was still at school has been bought by a Swedish education technology group.

Kilmarnock-based Giglets Education was snapped up by private equity-backed ILT Education for a seven-figure sum.

Chief executive Craig Johnstone started the business as an enterprise project while he was still at Loudoun Academy in East Ayrshire.

The software firm was officially founded four years later in 2011.

The company aims to help schools and teachers improve literacy results and raise learning standards in the classroom and at home.

More than 120,000 pupils and 40,000 teachers already use its literacy platform.

Giglets is currently used by schools in Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Switzerland, the Middle East and Australia.

It works with governments, local authorities, teaching clusters, public and private schools, as well as The Hunter Foundation.

Giglets, which turns over about 拢1m a year, has recently expanded internationally, with a team in Canada serving North America.

The company, which now offers more than 1,100 digital titles, aims to grow staff numbers from 12 to 20 over the next two years.

Image source, Giglets Education

Image caption, Craig Johnstone created the business while he was still at school

Craig Johnstone, who will remain at the company, said: "This private equity-backed acquisition comes as we look to accelerate our growth across the UK, Ireland and internationally and at a time when the edtech market has never been more buoyant."

ILT Education chief executive Jakob Skogholm said joining forces with Giglets would further strengthen its mission to "improve literacy and promote multilingualism across the world".

According to Scottish Development International, edtech is a fast-growing sector, with schools in the UK alone currently spending about 拢900m on education technology.

Karen Meechan, chief executive of digital technology industry body ScotlandIS, said Scotland's edtech sector continued to go from strength to strength.

She said: "Building on our rich history of developing education materials, we now have the added benefit of excellence in AI, gamification and cyber technology that can transform both teaching and learning.

"Throughout our own education system we've seen a steady increase in the use of these materials throughout Covid and we expect this trend to accelerate."