A dyslexic entrepreneur has won the support of Sir Richard Branson by pitching his new education app to a video doorbell installed in a hotel lift.
Hugh Johnston, 27, discovered last week that the Virgin founder had watched his 60-second pitch and would help promote Tyypo, the app he created to help dyslexics learn from their mistakes.
The “Elevator of Dreams” can be found in Virgin’s Shoreditch hotel, where entrepreneurs have been invited to share their ideas on camera. Johnston, recognising Branson’s status as one of the world’s most high-profile dyslexic entrepreneurs, jumped at the chance to record his pitch.
More than 500 hopefuls have stepped into the lift since it was launched by Branson and Simon Squibb, the founder of business-focused social media platform HelpBnk. Johnston had tried to find ways to contact Branson for some time; so when he spotted Squibb’s YouTube video on the “Elevator of Dreams”, he felt fate was on his side.
After struggling with spelling and writing for years, Johnston devised Tyypo to address dyslexia at its root. Unlike other programmes, which he felt simply acted as a crutch, Tyypo tracks common errors and teaches users how to improve, rather than just highlighting mistakes. Johnston initially taught himself to code with the help of ChatGPT, storing his frequent errors in a spreadsheet. He later teamed up with two software developers, Omid Javedan and Nael Aborrob, to accelerate development.
When Johnston recorded his pitch in the lift, he shared a personal anecdote about mixing up “father” and “farter” on the order of service for his grandfather’s funeral. In his response, Branson praised his honesty, revealing that he too had suffered countless dyslexic mishaps.
Johnston asked Branson for two things: first, that he share Tyypo’s waiting-list link, and secondly, to introduce Johnston to Made By Dyslexia, a charity promoting dyslexic thinking with which Branson has partnered to develop university courses. After a month of refreshing social media, Johnston finally saw Branson post about Tyypo this week, with sign-up numbers more than doubling in the first hour.
Tyypo is now close to launch. The venture has also secured a place on a Barclays Eagle Labs programme, designed to help early-stage start-ups fine-tune their products. “It’s an amazing step in our journey,” Johnston says. “We’re hugely grateful to Richard and everyone behind the Elevator of Dreams for giving us such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
