DATELINE: London, 2 April 2026
Excelas has been named a regional finalist in the UK StartUp Awards 2026 in the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category, shortlisted in London. The company, which is transforming the way educational assessments are processed, will compete against some of the most innovative new firms in the capital.
Excelas is an EdTech specialist that developed ExamGPT, an advanced system designed to automate the marking of handwritten STEM assessments. By delivering 90-98% examiner-grade accuracy, the platform directly addresses the teacher workload crisis. The technology reclaims four hours of weekly capacity for educators in UK secondary schools and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), ensuring students receive instant, high-quality feedback that would otherwise take weeks to process manually.
A Milestone Year for UK Startups
The UK StartUp Awards was launched to recognise the booming startup scene across the UK, which has accelerated significantly in recent years with around 832,000 new businesses registered in the UK in 2025. Over 900 businesses have been shortlisted for this year's UK StartUp Awards across ten nations and regions.
The contribution of these firms, all of which were started in the last three years, is significant, having created nearly 5,000 new jobs since they were established and generating annual sales of over £150 million.
"Being named a finalist from over 2,100 entries is a powerful validation of our mission," said Phoebe Ng, CMO & Co-founder. "While we are proud to be recognised in the top 1% of UK startups, our true impact is measured in the four hours of weekly capacity we reclaim for every teacher. Being shortlisted isn't just a win for us, it's a 'risk-reduction' certificate for educators. It proves that ExamGPT is the engine that actually solves the teacher workload crisis while delivering the proven impact on outcomes that 46% of leaders are looking for."
Excelas will participate in the regional final with the hope of progressing to the national final at Ideas Fest in September 2026.
Scaling Impact in Education
The company has already demonstrated significant momentum in the education sector. Despite having a core team of just less than 10 people, Excelas has reached a major milestone by marking over 250,000 questions for more than 12,000 students. This scale of operation highlights the growing demand for automated grading solutions that do not compromise on accuracy.
Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, co-founder of the UK StartUp Awards, said:
“New businesses are the driving force behind any thriving economy, generating employment, pioneering innovation, and contributing to prosperity right across the UK. This year's finalists represent the very best of British entrepreneurial talent, spotting opportunities and, through dedication, skill, and resilience, building ventures that are making a real difference in their industries and communities. The standard of entries in 2026 has been exceptional, and every finalist should be enormously proud of what they have achieved. Regional winners will go on to represent their region at the national final at Ideas Fest in September, and that is a stage worthy of everything they have built."
About the UK StartUp Awards
The UK StartUp Awards, founded by Frankie James and Professor Dylan Jones-Evans as part of Ideas Community, is the UK's largest independent startup awards programme. Now in its fifth year, the awards received over 2,000 entries in 2026.
Regional winners go on to compete at the national final, held at Ideas Fest, aka the Glastonbury of Business, on 9th-10th September 2026 at Champneys, Tring, Hertfordshire. For more information visit startupawards.uk.
Have a closer look on how ExamGPT is helping educators here.