Ilisha Masaun- Greater BYPY for Training and Education 2023

Talking us through winning the Greater BYPY for Training and Education award 2023 is Ilisha Masaun.

What is your name, and what is your role and your place of work?

Ilisha Masaun and I am the founder of Econominds. We use gamification and AI to streamline revision. 15 minutes on our platform is equal to two hours of learning in any traditional sense.

Were you nominated by someone else for an award, or did you nominate yourself, and why?

I nominated myself for the award after winning another award which granted me free access to Future Faces. I believe you have to be in it to win it!

How did you find the application and interview process?

I found the combination of both application and interview allowed someone like me, who is dyslexic to be able to get my full story across and share my passion with the judges about why I started my company and the impact Econominds has had in a short space of time

How did it feel to win your award?

It felt amazing! I started my company when I was 18 and have been running it out of my bedroom for many years. So, to be recognised for all the hard work and innovation was fantastic.

What impact did winning your award have on your career?

I would say the business has had lots of exposure and the Chamber of Commerce has supported the launch of our brand new app six months ago. Making my moment on stage count by saying a few words has definitely raised the profile of me and my business and I have had lots of partnership opportunities since.

We are the only education company in the UK that not only gets students A* grades, but also brings them together with top employers within the Chamber so they can get work experience, exposure to mentors and excel their personal lives too! We are partnering with BDO, Mazars, HSBC, RBC Brewin Dolphin, Schroders, Trowers and Hamlin and have a huge event with Samsung coming up!

We have been able to accelerate student attainment with our technology.  On average we have seen grades increase by 18 per cent in three months of usage. Now they are spending less time having to revise, they have the chance to network and learn from professionals one step ahead of them. We are taking them from classroom to corporate!

We just pitched to over 10,000 people at London Tech Week and fantastic entrepreneurs like Tej Lalvani from Dragons Den at the TechNation Finals which was a huge achievement and I believe without having the push from the win of this award, I would never have entered that competition and made it to the final 13 out of 10,000 applications nationwide.

What advice would you give to those applying for the Greater Birmingham Young Professional of the Year Awards 2024?

Make sure you talk about your achievements in a quantifiable manner, you explain your story and motivations behind what you are doing and you bring your personality out! I definitely believe I won my award due to a combination of these things

Where can people get in touch with you if they want to have a chat about the application and interview process, winning an award etc.?

Drop me a message on my LinkedIn!