Jules Smith did not set out to build a learning platform. She spent years inside large organisations watching how training was handled for frontline workers, and kept arriving at the same conclusion. The tools were built for office workers, the formats were slow, and the people who needed the most practical skills were getting the least useful learning experience. So she built something different. Jules Smith is now Co-Founder and COO of Blend, an EdTech startup focused entirely on deskless worker training, and she is doing it on her own terms.
Before She Built Blend:
Jules holds a first-class honours degree in International Business from the University of Leeds. Her early career took her into some genuinely large operations. She worked at UberEats and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, where her focus was on innovation and venture scouting rather than just day-to-day execution. That gave her a lens most operators do not have. She was looking at what was coming, not just what was working right now.
She also spent time at Katapult VC in Norway, managing global programmes including the FinTech100 at FinTech Abu Dhabi and the Urban Innovation Champions programme in Singapore. That is a fairly unusual background for someone who would go on to co-found a hospitality training startup, and it is precisely what makes her approach to Blend interesting.
Decision to Start Blend:
Jules joined an Antler residency in London in October 2022. It was there she met co-founder Jonah Werth. The third co-founder, Helen Sydorenko, is a Ukrainian founder based in London who had previously built GreenBin, a sustainability training platform for hospitality businesses.
The three of them launched Blend in January 2023. Jules took on the COO role, which means she is the one translating the product vision into something that actually runs day to day, from operations to customer outcomes.
What She Is Building at Blend:
Blend is a mobile-first, video-led micro-learning platform built specifically for deskless workers. The format is short-form and TikTok-style, designed around how people actually watch and retain information on their phones. Courses are accredited and cover compliance areas including Food Safety, Allergy Awareness, Health and Safety, Responsible Alcohol Service, and Fire Safety.
The platform makes accredited training 80% faster than traditional methods and saves businesses over 10 hours per new employee in onboarding time. For high-turnover hospitality teams, that is a meaningful operational difference. One client noted directly that Blend helped them scale to over 10 locations.
Pricing starts from under £2 per employee per month. The platform supports AI-powered course creation, personalised learning pathways, handbooks, quizzes, and a newsfeed. It integrates with existing workforce management tools and is built to scale across multiple locations.
Building in Tech as a Woman:
Jules speaks openly about empowering women in technology and business. She speaks at fintech, education, and leadership events, and she runs school pathway workshops specifically designed to help young women see themselves as founders and business leaders. She is also in the process of establishing a charitable trust focused on empowering young women in technology. That is not a one-off panel appearance, it is a structured, ongoing commitment she is building alongside Blend.
Her work in this space is consistent and practical. She coaches founders and professionals through group sessions and one-to-one engagements, with focus areas including EdTech innovation, scaling in competitive markets, and leadership development. She also works as an event host and moderator for corporate and educational events, bringing the same experience-led approach she applies at Blend.
Beyond the Startup Work:
What stands out about Jules is that the work she does through Blend, the speaking she does in schools, and the trust she is building all point in the same direction. She is interested in access, specifically who gets trained, who gets funded, and who gets to lead.
For anyone following women in tech founders making real moves in the UK startup space, Jules Smith and what she is building through Blend is a story worth paying attention to. You can explore more profiles like hers in our Women in Tech section.
