Startup Spotlight: Administrate

Each Friday the RookieOven Startup Spotlight highlights a member of the Scottish tech startup community. The aim is to, as the name suggests, put the spotlight on Scotland’s best startups from across the country. It’s an opportunity to share information about an exciting tech startup from Scotland you may not have heard of. Giving a brief overview of the company, what they do, where they are and who they are. This week the spotlight falls on Administrate.

We tend to look at businesses wondering “How did that come about?" It usually breaks down to someone noticing a need within the industry and filling that demand. Administrate started in a similar way, emerging from a training company to ultimately be the success they are today. RookieOven wanted to know more about their journey and where they are now. Luckily Jen Paton, an Operation Manager at Administrate, was happy to provide us with their story.

What they do:

Administrate is a training management solution for providers who would like to save time and money by streamlining their day-to-day administration. Training companies and departments use their products to manage their operations, increase bookings, and deliver exceptional learning. Jen says, “In terms of working at Administrate, our dream is to be the ‘Ultimate Human Organisation’ so we’re constantly thinking of different ways that we can be the best place to work. For example, last year the whole company moved to a 4-day work week but still gets paid for 5!”

It’s not just the awesome work week which makes Administrate great, but more importantly, it is their passion for learning and developing. This shines through each and every team member and they make it a must when introducing new employees. “Everyone attends a presentation by our CEO and CCO on our values and culture” and that’s not all, they value learning so much that they hold an annual conference in Edinburgh called Learning Innovation Technology Evolution, or LITE for short. Their aim is to bring like minded people together, with amazing speakers, to continue educating themselves and others. This year's line up include record breaking cyclist Graeme Obree and DOOM co-creator John Romero! We will definitely be there this September.

The Rest is History:

Around 2007 in Fort William, a training company was looking for a tool which would help manage their training business, but seeing as there were none, they decided to create their own for internal use. It did not take very long for them to see how successful their idea really was, they decided to share this useful product for other training providers. With a bit of funding and being welcomed by the market, the rest was history! According to Jen, the team has more than doubled last year and they have an ever-growing global customer base “currently at just over 280, and every day our customers (spanning 6 continents and over 25 countries) use our system to deliver education around the world.” Let say that again, OVER 25 countries, spanning across 6 continents are using Administrate to help maintain their training programmes!

Below are some of the key members of Administrate:

Top Row: Chief Executive Officer - John Peebles, Chief Commercial Officer - Patrick Flanagan, Chief Technology Officer - Andrew Williams

Bottom Row: Chief Financial Officer - Derek Gardner, Chief Product Officer - Troy Michels, Marketing Director - Mike McGrail

What's their approach?:

They are predominantly funded by Archangels, one of Scotland’s longest running angel syndicates. Their business model is based on the importance to them that their customers “get real value from using Administrate, and our team structure and pricing reflect that.” They started as a subscription based fees, however last year they changed to a pricing structure to include a charge per learner booked on and using the software. Jen continues to explain “obviously the more learners a training provider has flowing through their books the more successful they are. We’re therefore, aligning ourselves with their success because it’s also in our interest that they do well! We have great support, implementation and account management teams in place to ensure that customers are successfully using our product and driving value for their businesses.”

How to get in touch:

Administrate clearly values providing outstanding customer service, as well as, a good product. If you want to say hi, they are located within Codebase, an incubator for lots of tech startups, in Edinburgh. Jen refers their offices and Codebase as a place which “breeds a fantastic community.” and they'd love to hear from you.

Find out more about Administrate via:

• Administrate Website
• Administrate Blog
• LITE Conference
• Twitter
• Facebook