Women in Innovation Success Stories: Melenie Schatynski, My Code Kit

Melenie Schatynski built My Code Kit to close the digital skills gap. Alongside co-founder Mia Pledger, the team are on a mission to demystify coding for the next generation, encouraging students to see failure as a positive first attempt in the learning process.

Their flagship product, Ocobox, makes this process accessible to all, utilising an AI learning assistant chatbot to break down mistakes and provide feedback, allowing teachers to focus on in-depth learning.

By taking part in the Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards, Melenie was able to start the next phase of her business’s development – the journey from MVP to commercialisation. But the programme helped her on a personal level, too.

“Winning this award has enabled us to launch our pilots and early access programme. We also hired new members of staff and launched a demo version of the app,” she explained.

The team were accepted on to the Design for Growth programme and exhibited at BETT UK, which has education-based visitors from more than 120 countries.

“As a personal victory, I also became a paid public speaker!” Melenie added.

A helping hand

As passionate educators and tech enthusiasts, Melenie and Mia wanted to change the perception that students and teachers had of computer science. It was Melenie’s experience as a student that led her to debunk this perception.

“I’m dyslexic, I come from a working-class background and I didn’t have any formal education past GCSEs until I was 27. But because someone took a chance on me, I was able to start this company and develop a tool I care so passionately about.

“As an innovator, I can’t imagine doing anything else now! I am passionate about building tools that make education fairer; it’s where my creativity and expertise resonate most deeply,” Melenie explained.

From being discouraged to explore coding during her GCSEs to volunteering to build a custom coding solution at her former workplace, then training to become a teacher, Melenie’s tenacious spirit has pushed her to look beyond doubt and build resilience.

The Innovate UK programme provided the support Melenie and the team needed to continue smashing through barriers.

“Through the Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award, I’ve received continued support from my Innovation and Growth Specialist, Monitoring Officer and Business Advisor. We have been working through different business challenges together over these last 6 months and it has really helped to move the business forward,” she said.

Outcomes and advice

Joining a business development programme may be the step you need to make your dream a reality – but when your focus is set on getting your ideas out into the world, it can be difficult to envisage what your business might look like one, two or even five years down the line.

The Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award encourages participants to plan for the future and have those all-important conversations that could be pivotal to the success of their firm. For My Code Kit, this means accessing more funding to help grow the team and expanding their customer base internationally.

For aspiring women in innovation, Melenie emphasises the importance of reaching out to a newfound network.

“Don’t be afraid to ask! Ask your network, your users, your peers, your fellow awardees, strangers, anyone! As a result you will have open conversations where various ideas are freely shared, unbiased feedback is given, trust is built, and knowledge is exchanged, all facilitating learning and personal growth.”

Read more success stories from the Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards.